The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Qifa, a Chinese-founded B2B digital trade platform operating across the Russia-China corridor, inked a strategic partnership on Wednesday at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) to advance cross-border digital trade and expand bilateral commerce.

The collaboration agreement, signed on the sidelines of the forum, underscores joint efforts to modernize trade processes through technological integration. "RDIF and Qifa, a Russia-China B2B digital trade platform, have agreed to partner in developing digital trade and scaling bilateral trade volumes," the fund stated in a press release.

According to RDIF, the initiative will harness AI-driven solutions to streamline trade workflows, enhancing transparency and operational efficiency for businesses. This, in turn, is expected to drive product assortment expansion and cost optimization -- key levers for accelerating trade growth in line with bilateral strategic objectives.

"China leads in trade volume with Russia, with a robust e-commerce ecosystem already in place. RDIF's focus on facilitating market access for Sino-Russian enterprises makes this partnership with Qifa an important step in elevating cross-border digital trade," said Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of RDIF, in a statement.

The 28th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum runs from June 18 to 21 this year, gathering delegates from over 100 countries and regions.