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Article: Friendly shopping across the border. (China and USSR)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- June 11, 1988
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1988 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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CHINA is coy about closer political relations with Russia, but it is all for more trade. What the trading suggests is that relations between the two communist giants are closer to normal than the Chinese admit.
Most of the business is by way of barter. China takes Russian steel, timber and some manufactured goods, including aircraft, mainly in return for farm products and textiles. This year China is hoping its trade with Russia will amount to SFr4 billion ($2.8 billion)-the Swiss currency being the usual accounting unit for barter trade between the two. Their trade reached that level in 1986, but it dropped to SFr3 billion last year, partly because of a fall in ...