MOSCOW, June 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russian and Chinese business representatives signed about 40 contracts worth $3 billion at a business forum in Moscow on Tuesday.

The documents were signed at the Russia-China Trade and Economic Forum in Moscow, which brought together about 600 businesspeople from both countries. The forum was organized by the Russian Economics Ministry and China's Commerce Ministry.

Andrei Slepnev, a Russian deputy economic development minister, told the forum that the volume of bilateral trade, economic and investment interaction had dropped amid the ongoing global crisis, but that Russia and China had good prospects for cooperation in oil and gas, nuclear power engineering, and outer space exploration.

"However, the main emphasis should be made on the investment model of interaction, with a focus on cooperation in engineering and innovation products," he said.

The forum also announced that the Russian-Chinese fund of assistance to trade in engineering products would start its work within the next six months. China has already allocated $14.6 million for these purposes, while Russia will clarify its contribution in the near future.