In Vladivostok, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation - Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Far Eastern Federal District Yuri Trutnev and Deputy Prime Minister of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Zhang Guoqing held the fifth meeting of the Intergovernmental Russian-Chinese Commission on Cooperation and Development of the Far East of the Russian Federation and the Northeast of the People's Republic of China. Issues of cooperation between the Far East of the Russian Federation and the Northeast of the People's Republic of China were discussed. As the Russian Deputy Prime Minister noted, China is Russia’s main economic partner in the Far East. Over ten years, trade turnover between the Russian Far East and the People's Republic of China has doubled and in 2023 reached 2 trillion rubles. The volume of freight traffic has increased significantly. In 2023 alone, cargo turnover through land points of contact with China increased by 35% (from 29.9 to 40.4 million tons), which naturally places new demands on transport and logistics infrastructure. In 2022, the Amur and Jewish Autonomous Regions were connected to Heilongjiang Province by two new bridges - Blagoveshchensk-Heihe and Nizhneleninskoye-Tongjiang. In 2023, 3.8 million tons of cargo were transported along them. In the preferential regimes of the Far East, 51 investment projects with a total investment volume of 817 billion rubles are being implemented with the participation of Chinese capital. This includes projects such as the construction of the Amur gas chemical complex with an investment volume of more than 700 billion rubles and a number of other large projects. Cooperation within the framework of the development of the Northern Sea Route was discussed. In 2023, companies from the People's Republic of China made the first eight voyages along the NSR. The Russian side sees great prospects in organizing joint projects in the field of tourism. Cooperation in agriculture is actively developing. According to Zhang Guoqing, in 2023 the trade turnover of agricultural products between China and Russia increased by 33% and amounted to more than 11 billion US dollars. Last year, China imported 1.29 thousand tons from the Far East. Imports increased by 36%. According to Zhang Guoqing, it is a historical maximum. The emphasis was placed on the joint development of Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island. During the state visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to China, the Unified Concept for the Development of the Island was adopted. “In accordance with the concept, a cargo-passenger cross-border crossing will be built. A center for international cooperation and tourism infrastructure will appear on the island. We expect that by 2030, cargo turnover through the island will reach 1.3 million tons, passenger traffic – 1.4 million people,” explained Yuri Trutnev. Yuri Trutnev invited his Chinese colleagues to take part in the IX Eastern Economic Forum. Summing up the meeting, Yuri Trutnev noted that “the expansion of comprehensive contacts between Russia and China not only meets the interests of the two countries, but also creates the basis for the future transformation of global international relations.”
