The Russian-Chinese trade will have hit a record high of US$20 US by the end of this year, a senior Russian diplomat said on Saturday.

In a comment on the imminent visit by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to Russia, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko expressed his belief on the growth of bilateral trade for the year.

He noted that mutual capital investment is growing as Chinese investments in Russia have totaled over US$1 billion dollars, and Russian investments in China amounted to some US$800 million.

Yakovenko said both sides plan to launch large-scale projects and construction on joint projects in Moscow and Saint Petersburg has started.

The spokesman pointed out that the oil and gas industry is a priority cooperation field for the two neighbors and Russia plans to supply 6.4 million tons of oil to China this year.

He also hailed the active scientific and technical cooperation. A total of 172 joint research projects are operating in a wide range of subjects including biotechnology and microbiology, nuclear physics and high energy physics, oil chemistry, telecommunications and seismology.

Yakovenko called for more efforts in the signing of an intergovernmental agreement on setting up culture centers in both countries.

Wen will visit Kyrgyzstan and Russia, and attend the third meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) with Prime Ministers from other SCO member states and the ninth regular meeting between Chinese and Russian Prime Ministers from September 21 to 25.