Cooperation with Russia is being highlighted at the Harbin Economic and Technological Development Zone, in a bid to promote bilateral trade and investment.
The zone, located in the capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, is the first national industrial park in China to focus on technical co-operation withRussia.
"We require the projects in this newly established park to meet three qualifications: they must be of high technology, large scale and feature specialized co-operation with Russia," said Li Zhiheng, executive director of the zone's administrative committee
Li said China and Russia have great potential for economic co-operation, as the two economies are complementary to each other.
Russia has abundant natural resources, such as metals, liquefied natural gas (LNG), water, seafood and energy, and specializes in heavy industries while China provides quality light industrial manufacturing, at competitive prices that meet the demands of Russian consumers.
Li said the zone hopes to develop into a brand well-known to the Russian people.
"We expect that one day a product with our logo will mean good quality to Russian consumers," he said.
Through this project, the organizers predict Sino-Russian co-operation will transfer from traditional industries to projects in new sectors.
The two-square-kilometre-park has attracted five projects since it was launched in late April. And according to Li, application has already been made to extend.
Bilateral trade between China and Russia has witnessed strong growth over the past several years.
In 2004, trade volume between the two countries rose some 34.7 per cent to US$21 billion. China's exports to Russia reached US$9.1 billion while imports from Russia stood at US$12.1 billion.
Government leaders from both sides have said they hope bilateral trade will keep growing to hit an expected US$60-80 billion.
Meanwhile, local governments in Russia are eager to invite Chinese enterprises to invest in Russia. They have held several investment promotion seminars and forums in China over the past few months.
(China Daily May 20, 2005)
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