Russian companies pin high hopes on the second China International Import Expo (CIIE) that opened in Shanghai on Tuesday, the organizer of the exhibition of Russian businesses has told Xinhua.

About 60 companies, up from some 50 firms last year, will participate in the expo this year, said Andrey Slepnev, general director of the Russian Export Center (REC) Group, which is the organizer of the industry exhibition and business programs for the Russian companies at the CIIE.

The large-scale exhibition will be presented in an area of 1,000 square meters and will become the central venue for business programs, signing ceremonies, presentations and meetings, he said in a recent interview.

Companies, associations and government departments will promote Russian products to global buyers in a variety of sectors including films, information technologies, shipbuilding, and aviation, he said.

Slepnev said Russia will focus on the food industry this year and 43 companies will showcase their meat, poultry, honey, grain, as well as confectionary and dairy products.

"Russian companies showed great interest in the event. This year we tried to saturate the business programs even more, offering various formats for participation in the exhibition and actively working on business meetings," he said.

Last year, Russian exporters signed contracts and agreements worth a total of more than 350 million U.S. dollars, according to Slepnev.

"A lot of what we planned at the CIIE last year has worked out, and companies see the advisability of participating and expanding their presence in China in this way," Slepnev said.

In his view, Russian non-primary materials and non-energy exports to China in recent years have consistently shown positive dynamics.

"In 2018, they amounted to 12 billion dollars, up 7 percent from the previous year. In the first half of this year, such exports grew 9 percent to more than 6 billion dollars," he said.

According to the REC, Russia has the potential to increase non-primary materials and non-energy exports to China by more than 7.3 billion dollars in the next two to three years.

In 2018, China-Russia trade hit a record high of over 100 billion dollars, and the two countries aim to double the figure to 200 billion dollars by 2024.

"The goal is indeed ambitious, but it correlates with the context of the unprecedentedly trusting relationships that have been achieved by the leaders of our countries," Slepnev said.