The development comes amid political and regulatory uncertainties in China that have pushed foreign businesses to move out of the country

"This year will be the hardest for us," said one of the exporters at the trade event, expressing concerns about the weak global economy hurting business

Increasing oil deals between the two countries have already begun to corrode the US dollar’s long-running dominance in energy trade

Many Russian banks have been blocked from the SWIFT network due to Western sanctions over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine

Leading the sluggish trade performance in January were a 44.5% dive in semiconductor exports and a whopping 31% plunge in sales to China

The system has already been used by Russia following the imposition of sanctions on Moscow over the Ukraine war

The disputes concern alleged Chinese restrictions on EU companies' rights to use foreign courts to protect their high-tech patents and on trade with EU member Lithuania

Chinese freight trains to Russia made up 60% of the total traffic headed to Europe in the first half of this year, compared to 45% in 2021

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said protecting interests against China's plans to dominate important industries such as semiconductors was the top priority

China's logistics performance index came in at 49.3% last month, up 5.5 percentage points from the previous month

The bridge across the Amur river is just over one kilometre long and cost 19 billion roubles ($342 million), Russia's RIA news agency reported

With Beijing focusing on resource-rich states in South America, China widened the gap with the US last year in many countries - gobbling up soybeans, corn and copper