SLUMP IN SINO-RUSSIAN TRADE.

Russian trade with China in the first half of 1997 fell by 32 percent compared to the same period in 1996. China’s share of Russian foreign trade fell from 4.7 percent to 3.3 percent: Russia exported goods worth $1.6 billion to China and imported $450 million. The slump is due primarily to the expansion of Chinese domestic output of steel and fertilizers, which means that China no longer needs to import these commodities from Russia. Moreover, trade still takes place according to a cumbersome system of commodity lists agreed to by the Foreign Trade Ministries of the two countries. Boris Yeltsin will presumably try to boost Russian exports during his planned visit to Beijing in November. (Segodnya, September 24)

Duma Overrides Presidential Veto on Land Code.