“Relations between Russia and China in the sphere of economic cooperation have reached a very high level,” Vladimir Putin said, speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, according to Russian state-owned news agency TASS. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said in May that he expected trade with China would top $200 billion this year. As many Western banks have reduced their presence in Russia, China’s lenders swooped in to offer banking services. Between February 2022 and March this year, the assets of Chinese banks in the country more than quadrupled to $9.7 billion, according to data collected by KSE Institute at the Kyiv School of Economics. Of China’s four biggest banks, Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China saw the biggest increases in their Russian assets.

---

Persons: ” Vladimir Putin, Mikhail Mishustin, Putin, ”, Laura He, Josh Pennington, Alex Stambaugh, Mitch McCluskey, Anna Chernova Organizations: London CNN, “, Eastern Economic, Moscow, Russian, Organization of, Petroleum, International Energy Agency, China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, KSE Institute, Kyiv School of Economics, Bank of China, Industrial, Commercial Bank of China, European Central Bank Locations: Moscow, Beijing, Russia, China, Vladivostok, Ukraine, United States, Saudi Arabia, India, wean