Border city expands cooperation with neighbor

Suifenhe, a city in Heilongjiang province well known for its high-quality and genuine Russian commodities, is eyeing greater cooperation and exchanges with its neighbor as China and Russia push forward new plans for regional economic growth, according to the city's Party chief.

China's Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiatives are highly complementary to Russia's strategy of developing the Far East regions, said Zhao Lianjun, Party chief of Suifenhe, at a meeting of the Legislative Assembly of the Primorsky Krai in Russia.

The initiatives and strategy are expected to usher in a new era for China-Russia relations, Zhao said in a keynote speech on border investment and economic cooperation at the meeting on April 13.

He visited Primorsky at the invitation of Victor Gorchakov, chairman of the Primorsky Krai Legislative Assembly.

Zhao's 22-minute speech won applause from the legislators during the one-hour meeting. Zhao opened his speech by gifting a large photograph to the legislative assembly. The photo showed President Xi Jinping shaking hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during Xi's visit to Russia in March 2013.

"I am delighted to see the dramatic changes in Primorsky in this spring season. I think Primorsky will embrace an even brighter future thanks to its vigorous growth," Zhao said in his speech.

Chinese enterprises have much interest in contributing to the development of the Far East regions, Zhao said. Russia has invested more than $20 billion in major projects on the plan during the past five years, according to statistics.

Representatives from more than 50 enterprises in the Chinese delegation headed by Zhao said they attach great importance to cooperation with Russia and would like to reach agreements with their Russian counterparts.

Suifenhe is also speeding up the construction of key projects including railways, port and airport renovation, which are part of the "One Road, One Belt" initiative, Zhao said. The city also established law service centers for Russian businesspeople and granted a visa-free policy for Russian tourists.

Suifenhe and Primorsky should strengthen their cooperation by working first on specific issues such as cross-border transportation, setting up zones for priority development and granting visa-free trips for drivers from both countries, Zhao said.

Gorchakov agreed with Zhao's proposals and said Primorsky is working toward the goal of bilateral cooperation in its infrastructure construction.

The legislators also made suggestions on strengthening exchanges in such sectors as tourism and agriculture after they listened to Zhao's speech.

As an international trade hub with a history of 112 years, Suifenhe was also named as one of the 18 typical Chinese cities for reform and opening-up in 2008.

The city played a significant role in developing China-Russia relations and is also a symbol of emerging border development in the new era, said Wang Qishan, head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC Central Committee.

As an important transportation hub on the Eurasian Land Bridge, Suifenhe is 120 kilometers from Ussuriysk, the second-largest city in Primorsky Krai, and 220 km from the largest city of Vladivostok. With land and sea routes that run to Japan, South Korea, Pacific countries and Europe, the city has also become an important link in the Road and Belt strategy.

Suifenhe is the only Chinese city where rubles are accepted. The city's annual amount of the currency in circulation totals 24 billion rubles ($448 million), statistics show. Nearly 1 million tourists visit China every year on the city's visa-free policy for Russian citizens.

The city boasts more than 200 stores that sell Russian products after a market for Russian commodities was established in the late 1980s.

With the rapid development of e-commerce, most of the store owners also conduct business online.By the end of 2014, the city hasdmore than 1,300 overseas purchasing agents, 33 e-commerce platforms, 986 online stores and 198 logistics enterprises.

It ranks 18th on the list of the top 100 e-commerce counties in China, according to a report released in June 2014 by AliResearch, a research organization affiliated with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.Suifenhe also maintains people-to-people and cultural exchanges with 17 cities in Russia and nine regions in South Korea and Japan.

dongjidong@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 04/22/2015 page5)