Chinese President Xi Jinping is in Russia for his first attendance of the Eastern Economic Forum, which is a milestone event in the history of China-Russia relations in the new era.
Against the backdrop of mounting anti-globalization, trade protectionism and unilateralism, Xi’s attendance at the forum demonstrates to the whole world that in order to promote regional economic development, it is the right choice to stick to the principle of mutual benefit and win-win outcomes, improve cooperation arrangements of the regional economy, and push forward trade and investment facilitation.
The China-Russia relationship is at the best period of development in history. China and Russia support each other’s major initiatives and development strategies, and the two heads of state attended major events held by each other.
All these not only reflect the high-level bilateral relations, but also manifest the deep personal friendship and good working relations between leaders of the two countries.
Regional cooperation between China and Russia has a long history. Enjoying advantages of geographical adjacency, wide scope of business, and flexible modes of operation, regional cooperation of the two countries constitutes an important part of the China-Russia pragmatic cooperation.
The two countries have not only established the deputy prime minister level mechanism of Intergovernmental Commission for Cooperation of the Northeast China and the Far East and Baikal Region of Russia, but also made the Eastern Economic Forum another important platform for high-level meetings.
China has remained the largest trade partner of the Far East regionfor many years in a row. A total of 26 Chinese enterprises have entered the Advanced Special Economic Zones (ASEZ) in the Russian Far East region and the Vladivostok Free Port.
China also has become the largest source of foreign investment in the Far East region. The country has implemented 28 projects with a total investment of around $4 billion in the Far East, covering various areas including agriculture, forestry, building materials, light industry, energy and mining, and commerce and trade.
China and Russia are forging ahead with the construction of international transport corridors to boost combined land and sea transportation. A slew of major interconnectivity and infrastructure projects are steadily advanced, including the Binhai 1 and Binhai 2 international transport corridors, the Nizhneleninskoye-Tongjiang railway bridge and Blagoveshchensk-Heihe road bridge across the Heilongjiang River, and freight transportation on the China-Russia-Europe railway route.
In addition, a total of 25 pairs of sister cities or provinces/oblasts have been established between China and Russia’s Far East, accounting for nearly 20 percent of which is fostered between China and Russia.
Last year, Russia’s Primorsky Krai alone received 420,000 Chinese tourists. At present, there are about 3,000 Chinese students studying in Primorsky Krai. China has also become the first choice for students of the Far East region to study abroad.
I believe that the two heads of state will continue pushing forward the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination to a higher standard, broader fields and deeper levels. China will also actively involve itself in Russia’s development of the Far East region so as to promote the common development and prosperity of the border areas of the two countries.
(Li Hui is Chinese Ambassador to Russia)