Nearly 300 Russian companies and more than 5,000 buyers are gathering in China for the 10th bilateral Expo between the two countries, with 500 products launched and 800 new projects presented in Harbin in the week when bilateral trade already exceeds 61 billion dollars.

Written by Maria Heloisa Barbosa Borges

Published on 22/05/2026 at 22:33

Be the first to react!

China hosted the 10th China-Russia Expo in Harbin, the largest bilateral business platform between the two countries. According to CGTN, the five-day event attracted nearly 300 Russian companies, more than 5,000 buyers, 1,500 exhibitors from 46 countries, and recorded the launch of 500 products and 800 new projects. Bilateral trade reached 61.2 billion dollars in the first quarter of 2026, an increase of 14.7%, consolidating China as Russia’s largest trading partner for the 16th consecutive year.

China and Russia have just concluded the largest trade showcase ever held between the two countries. The 10th China-Russia Expo, which ended this Thursday (22) in Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province, brought together nearly 300 Russian companies and a purchasing delegation with more than 5,000 members in 55,000 square meters of exhibition space. The event functioned as a continental-scale market: 500 products were launched and 800 new projects, partnerships, and technologies were presented, covering everything from smart equipment and artificial intelligence to creative cultural items, jewelry, crafts, textiles, and Russian food.

The context of the fair is not coincidental. China has been Russia’s largest trading partner for the 16th consecutive year, and bilateral trade reached 227.9 billion dollars in 2025, surpassing 200 billion for the third consecutive time. In the first quarter of 2026, the volume rose to 61.2 billion dollars, an increase of 14.7%, with China’s exports to Russia growing 22% and Russian imports advancing 9%. The Harbin Expo is the physical translation of these numbers: a space where companies from both sides negotiate contracts, test products, and build relationships that sustain ever-growing trade, even under Western sanctions.

What happened during the five days of the Expo in Harbin

The 10th edition of the China-Russia Expo attracted more than 1,500 companies from 46 countries and regions, highlighting the nearly 300 Russian companies that showcased advances in high-tech manufacturing, energy equipment, modern agriculture, and digital technologies. The Russian Export Center, represented by Evgeny Bazhov, held 104 business matchmaking sessions on the first day alone, negotiating with 43 Chinese companies in discussions that totaled a cooperation potential of 3.9 billion rubles, about 55 million dollars.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

How the composition of trade between China and Russia is changing

One of the most revealing data during the Expo was presented by Ma Chi, an official from the Ministry of Commerce of China: the share of electromechanical and high-tech products in bilateral trade has been consistently growing. Russia, which historically exported almost exclusively energy and minerals to China, saw the share of non-primary products rise from 22% to 27% of the total.

On the Chinese side, automobiles, home appliances, and industrial machinery dominate exports to Russia. The change in the composition of bilateral trade is significant because it indicates that the relationship is diversifying beyond the dependence on oil and gas. The Harbin fair reflects this transformation: among the 800 projects presented, there are partnerships in the digital economy, green development, cross-border e-commerce, and artificial intelligence technologies.

The logistics that support the world’s largest bilateral fair

The scale of the Expo required a logistics operation to match. Requests for charter flights for oversized cargo destined for Harbin grew 19% compared to 2025, and hotel occupancy in the city exceeded 90% during the five days of the event. The organizers also tested a digital “Expo Pass” that functions as a local transport card and digital yuan wallet, facilitating payments for delegations from countries where UnionPay acceptance is limited.

China’s visa waiver policy for Russian citizens was highlighted by Bazhov as a decisive factor in attracting participants visiting the fair for the first time. Chen Shijun, chairman of the Heilongjiang committee of the Council for the Promotion of International Trade, stated that economic cooperation between the two countries has expanded beyond traditional sectors and now includes the digital economy, sustainable development, and e-commerce.

What the Expo Reveals About the Economic Alliance Between China and Russia

Watch the video

The 10th China-Russia Expo took place in the same week that Putin visited Beijing for the 25th time, in a meeting that resulted in 40 bilateral agreements and joint declarations on security and trade. The Harbin fair is the commercial face of this political alliance: while the presidents sign declarations in Beijing, companies negotiate contracts in Harbin.

For China, Russia offers cheap energy, minerals, and agricultural products in volumes that compensate for the restrictions imposed by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. For Russia, China is the market that absorbs what Western sanctions prevented from going to Europe. The fair shows that bilateral trade is not just emergency: with 10 editions and growing numbers each year, it has become structural.

Did you know that China has been Russia’s largest trading partner for 16 consecutive years? Do you think this economic alliance will strengthen even more with Western sanctions or will it reach a limit? Tell us in the comments.

Nearly 300 Russian companies and more than 5,000 buyers are gathering in China for the 10th bilateral Expo between the two countries, with 500 products launched and 800 new projects presented in Harbin in the week when bilateral trade already exceeds 61 billion dollars.

What happened during the five days of the Expo in Harbin

How the composition of trade between China and Russia is changing

The logistics that support the world’s largest bilateral fair

What the Expo Reveals About the Economic Alliance Between China and Russia

While a traditional school may take several days just to raise walls, in Malawi a 3D-printed school had its structure ready in 18 hours, welcomed children in June, and showed a new solution to the lack of classrooms.

With a diameter of 15.08 meters, a length of 182 meters, and weighing 3900 tons, the world’s largest tunnel boring machine for drilling super hard rock made a 9 km tunnel in Georgia and impresses with its excavation power.

Material once seen as a poor man’s choice returns as a climate bet, with red clay replacing part of the gray concrete in modern buildings, hospitals, houses, and a cultural center that transforms tradition into a solution against urban heat.

Study solves great ancient mystery: remains of Philip II, father of Alexander the Great, are identified in Vergina and resolves the enigma of the Macedonian royal tombs that had lasted half a century.

Larger than the Toyota Hilux and with a towing capacity of 3.5 tons, the new MG U9 2026 features a 2.5 turbodiesel engine, 520 Nm, 4×4 traction with three locks, and an almost full-size build.

Portugal installs two giant underwater sockets to draw water from the Atlantic and create a €107.9 million desalination plant in the Algarve capable of producing 43.2 million liters of potable water per day with ocean intake 2 km from the coast.

Forget the common guardrail: solar highways are starting to feature barriers with ultra-thin panels in Europe, capable of generating clean energy, powering lighting, signage, and tunnels without occupying new areas, and transforming roads into discreet power plants along thousands of kilometers.

Demolishing a highway that carried 170,000 cars per day to put a stream in its place seemed crazy, but that’s exactly what Seoul did in the early 2000s, creating one of the most studied cases of urban renewal in the world, with nature returning to the heart of the city.

Concrete blocks weighing up to 80 tons with a four-arm shape have become Japan’s weapon against the ocean and today cover half of the country’s coastline, in a French invention from 1950 that has spread to Morocco, the Maldives, Brazil, and dozens of other coasts around the world.

Germany prepares Europe’s largest battery with 4 GWh, a giant project by LEAG and Fluence that promises to store renewable energy, stabilize the power grid, and transform the former coal region into a showcase of the energy transition.

Scientists drilled 4 kilometers of ice in Antarctica in search of life hidden in lakes sealed for 15 million years, and what they found below, microbes that eat rock and survive without sunlight, became the key to searching for extraterrestrials on the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn.

Nearly 300 Russian companies and more than 5,000 buyers are gathering in China for the 10th bilateral Expo between the two countries, with 500 products launched and 800 new projects presented in Harbin in the week when bilateral trade already exceeds 61 billion dollars.

What happened during the five days of the Expo in Harbin

How the composition of trade between China and Russia is changing

The logistics that support the world’s largest bilateral fair

What the Expo Reveals About the Economic Alliance Between China and Russia

While a traditional school may take several days just to raise walls, in Malawi a 3D-printed school had its structure ready in 18 hours, welcomed children in June, and showed a new solution to the lack of classrooms.

With a diameter of 15.08 meters, a length of 182 meters, and weighing 3900 tons, the world’s largest tunnel boring machine for drilling super hard rock made a 9 km tunnel in Georgia and impresses with its excavation power.

Material once seen as a poor man’s choice returns as a climate bet, with red clay replacing part of the gray concrete in modern buildings, hospitals, houses, and a cultural center that transforms tradition into a solution against urban heat.

Study solves great ancient mystery: remains of Philip II, father of Alexander the Great, are identified in Vergina and resolves the enigma of the Macedonian royal tombs that had lasted half a century.

Larger than the Toyota Hilux and with a towing capacity of 3.5 tons, the new MG U9 2026 features a 2.5 turbodiesel engine, 520 Nm, 4×4 traction with three locks, and an almost full-size build.

Portugal installs two giant underwater sockets to draw water from the Atlantic and create a €107.9 million desalination plant in the Algarve capable of producing 43.2 million liters of potable water per day with ocean intake 2 km from the coast.

Demolishing a highway that carried 170,000 cars per day to put a stream in its place seemed crazy, but that’s exactly what Seoul did in the early 2000s, creating one of the most studied cases of urban renewal in the world, with nature returning to the heart of the city.

Scientists drilled 4 kilometers of ice in Antarctica in search of life hidden in lakes sealed for 15 million years, and what they found below, microbes that eat rock and survive without sunlight, became the key to searching for extraterrestrials on the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn.

The world’s strongest land crane arrives with 6,000 tons to lift mega pieces, reduce high-altitude assemblies, and change the construction of plants and platforms.

As old platforms challenge the oil industry, the world’s largest lifting ship lifted 15,300 tons of a platform in a single lift in the North Sea.

72% of Northeasterners support the end of the 6×1 schedule and research reveals a historic movement that could accelerate a decisive vote in the Chamber later this month.

Forget the common guardrail: solar highways are starting to feature barriers with ultra-thin panels in Europe, capable of generating clean energy, powering lighting, signage, and tunnels without occupying new areas, and transforming roads into discreet power plants along thousands of kilometers.

Demolishing a highway that carried 170,000 cars per day to put a stream in its place seemed crazy, but that’s exactly what Seoul did in the early 2000s, creating one of the most studied cases of urban renewal in the world, with nature returning to the heart of the city.

Concrete blocks weighing up to 80 tons with a four-arm shape have become Japan’s weapon against the ocean and today cover half of the country’s coastline, in a French invention from 1950 that has spread to Morocco, the Maldives, Brazil, and dozens of other coasts around the world.

Germany prepares Europe’s largest battery with 4 GWh, a giant project by LEAG and Fluence that promises to store renewable energy, stabilize the power grid, and transform the former coal region into a showcase of the energy transition.

Scientists drilled 4 kilometers of ice in Antarctica in search of life hidden in lakes sealed for 15 million years, and what they found below, microbes that eat rock and survive without sunlight, became the key to searching for extraterrestrials on the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn.