VTB boss sees nations as natural economic partners

The coming meeting between Premier Li Keqiang and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will enable deeper cooperation in various areas between China and Russia, said Andrey Kostin, CEO of VTB Bank, Russia's largest financial group.

Kostin said he is glad to see that the two countries are natural economic partners with good prospects ahead.

China is Russia's largest foreign trade partner, and the bilateral trade volume, which last year increased by 25 percent to reach $110 billion, has been growing steadily, Kostin told China Daily.

Li and Medvedev's meeting will help further bolster cooperation in such areas as energy, agriculture, innovations and finance, Kostin said.

"We also see immense potential for our countries in docking major projects within the Belt and Road Initiative and those within the Eurasian Economic Union to promote regional economic integration," he said.

Russia supports the BRI, proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said it is timely, promising and in line with the goals of Russia's Eurasian Economic Union.