Vice Premier Wang Qishan put forward a five-point proposal on Monday at the sixth high-level China-Russia Economic Forum on boosting bilateral economic and trade cooperation.?

Wang praised the rapid development of bilateral economic cooperation, noting that achievements have been made in the petroleum, natural gas, coal, electric power, new energy, aviation, aerospace, transportation, infrastructure and finance sectors.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation, said Wang, noting that new opportunities have arisen for bilateral economic cooperation.

He said the two sides are going to sign an intergovernmental memorandum on economic modernization cooperation, which will further specify the direction of bilateral economic cooperation.

The two countries should seize the opportunity to transform their cooperative potential, Wang said, specifying five ways in which both nations can do so.

Firstly, the two sides should consolidate the momentum of rapid growth in trade, optimize their trade structure, regulate the order of trade and improve both the scale and quality of bilateral trade, Wang said.

Secondly, the two sides should expand the scale of mutual investment and deepen financial cooperation, Wang said.

Thirdly, the two sides should enhance innovation in science and technology and promote industrial upgrading, Wang said.

Fourthly, the two sides should strengthen local cooperation, speed up infrastructure construction for cross-border highways, railways, bridges, power grids, oil and gas pipelines and telecommunication and promote border trade, as well as explore the possibility of establishing a border economic zone, Wang said.

Fifthly, the two sides should make use of years of tourism in both countries to promote cooperation in tourism, Wang said.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov also addressed the forum, calling on both countries to explore a new path of development and improve competitiveness against the background of the sluggish world economy.

During the forum, Chinese and Russian companies signed 16 documents on economic and trade cooperation, totaling 7 billion U.S. dollars and covering trade, technology transfers, joint technical research and development, investment and mining.

The forum, co-sponsored by China's Ministry of Commerce and Russia's Ministry of Economic Development, was attended by more than 500 representatives from both countries.