On the question of the possibility of building a Russian-Chinese free trade zone

The article provides an empirical study of bilateral trade between the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China in 2011–2020 from the point of view of the formation of the Russian-Chinese free trade zone. The purpose of the article is to study the situation in the sphere of bilateral trade between the Russian Federation and China in the last decade and to establish both changes and emerging trends and processes in this area. The author's opinion is that, although China remains a very important partner of Russia in foreign trade and in general in the foreign economic sphere, cooperation retains a high degree of importance, but with the growth of interdependence, risks for Russia are definitely growing. At the same time, since in the medium term, apparently, the role of the PRC as a leading Russian partner will at least remain (perhaps even grow), the formation of a Russian-Chinese free trade zone seems premature to us. It is vital for Russia today to reduce the export of raw materials (which are vital to China), to reduce their share in total exports. To achieve this goal, it is important for Russia to further diversify its foreign trade, especially exports. At the same time, it is worth considering the possibility of using China's experience in implementing foreign trade expansion. The study uses data from the international database of UNCTAD and the Federal Customs Service of Russia. Analytical, empirical, and statistical methods were used in the study.