(Yicai) Feb. 29 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised the general manager of Epinduo, a Chinese e-commerce platform that specializes in Russian goods, for his idea of launching a livestreaming festival in Russia to promote trade.

It is a good idea to invite Chinese internet influencers to promote Russian products, Putin said at the annual forum Strong Ideas for a New Time in Moscow last week, referring to Yu Wei’s proposal.

Russia’s e-commerce market is still at an early stage and the live sales format, which is very common in China, is still a novelty in Russia, said Tao Sha, chairman of Harbin-based Epinduo.

But there is plenty of room for growth. Chinese consumers’ awareness and acceptance of Russian goods has increased greatly in the past two years, Tao said. Sales at Epinduo’s Russian food store on Alibaba Group Holding’s e-marketplace Tmall surged almost five-fold in 2022 from 2021, she added.

In particular, Russian flour, sausages, cheese, honey, vodka and a crispy candy called Kpokaht were hot sellers at Epinduo’s e-shop during the Lunar New Year holiday earlier this month.

And Chinese products, such as farming machinery and parts, are in high demand in Russia. Russian consumers use online retailers such as Wildberries, Ozon and AliExpress, to buy these goods, Tao said.

Russia’s e-commerce market is growing rapidly. The gross merchandise value of Ozon, one of the country’s top two e-retailers, more than doubled last year from the year before to RUB1.7 trillion (USD18.6 billion), according to its latest earnings report. The number of stores jumped 33 percent to 46 million.

Orders for China-made goods on Ozon, which opened a regional headquarters in Shenzhen in 2022, surged six times last year from the previous year, while the GMV soared seven-fold. Ozon had 60,000 active Chinese sellers as of Sept. 30, 2023, and the Moscow-based company plans to increase this to over 100,000 this year and hike their turnover 11 times.

Trade between China and Russia surged 26.3 percent last year from a year earlier to hit a record high of USD240.1 billion, according to data from the General Administration of Customs. China’s exports to Russia soared 46.9 percent to USD111 billion while imports from Russia jumped 12.7 percent to USD129.1 billion.

Editor: Kim Taylor