B2B marketplace Qifa to start exporting goods from Russia to China in early 2026
VLADIVOSTOK. Sept 3 (Interfax) - Russian-Chinese wholesale marketplace PJSC Qifa plans to fully launch a project to export Russian goods to China at the beginning of 2026, the company's founder and chairman Sun Tianshu said on Wednesday.
"We plan to fully launch the project to export from Russia to China at the start of next year so that any Russian company, any Russian entrepreneur without any significant obstacles, be it customs or certification and logistics, so that their product can reach every consumer in China directly from their plant," Sun Tianshu said at the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF).
The project will be implemented with support from Chinese companies, including logistics firms and marketplaces, he said.
"We're prepared to play the role of a bridge between Russian companies and the Chinese market. We're trying to simplify this process as much as possible with the help of digital technologies and artificial intelligence, create convenience for Russian companies to conquer the Chinese market and the markets of countries in the Asia-Pacific region," he said.
Sun Tianshu told Interfax that there are now more than 100 Russian companies on the Qifa platform. Qifa also works with the Russian Export Center (REC).
The company sees strong interest from Russian companies in entering the Chinese market, but they do not have enough technological support, Sun Tianshu said.
He also said that sales of Russian goods in China are currently falling due to the high share of counterfeit products. "Specifically because there is no trust, people don't know where they can get genuine Russian goods, there is a decline [in sales]," he said.
Commodities from Russia are traditionally very popular in China and now there is also demand for food products, he said.
Qifa, founded in 2013, operates a B2B e-commerce platform for transactions between suppliers and buyers from Russia and China. The platform offers goods from China in categories such as footwear, clothing, building materials, children's goods, leather goods, packaging materials, equipment, machinery and spare parts, electronics and appliances, textiles and so on. The company is wholly owned by Chinese company Qifa Silu. The beneficiary owner is company founder Sun Tianshu.
Qifa announced plans for an initial public offering on the Moscow Exchange in July 2024 and announced a price range of 92-110 rubles per share for the offering. The company intended to offer up to 18.5 million new shares. But later the company postponed the IPO due to the unfavorable situation on global financial and capital markets.
Qifa CFO Irina Afonina said at the company's investor day in August 2025 that Qifa expects a revival on the stock market and believes that 2026-2027 is a realistic timeframe for its IPO.
