*Russia and China*

Authored by Philip Snow, the subtitle is Four Centuries of Conflict and Concord.  This book is excellent and definitive and serves up plenty of economic history, here is one bit from the opening section:

The trade nonetheless went ahead with surprising placidity.  Now and again there ere small incidents in the form of cattle-rustling or border raids.  In 1742 some Russians were reported to have crossed the frontier in search of fuel, and in 1744 two drunken Russians killed two Chinese traders in a squabble over vodka.

I am looking forward to reading the rest, you can buy it here.