Expo lays wider path for Sino-Russia ties

The second China-Russia Expo is slated to be held in Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province from Oct 12 to 15.

Organized by the Ministry of Commerce, the Heilongjiang provincial government as well as the Russian national departments of economic development and industry and trade, the expo was formerly called the China Harbin International Economic and Trade Fair. An annual cooperation project between China and Russia, government leaders from both countries renamed the fair in October 2013 to further promote Sino-Russia economic cooperation.

This year's expo will cover an area of 86,000 square meters. The Russian pavilion will take up about 3,000 sq meters for its large domestic companies to exhibit their products, technologies and equipment.

Chinese companies in sectors such as railway, construction, energy, finance and machinery manufacturing will also display their latest achievements, especially those potentially related with the Belt and Road Initiative.

To date, 16 countries including Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Belgium have confirmed their participation in this year's expo.

The first China-Russia Expo, themed "New Opportunities and New Platform", was held from June 30 to July 4 last year. Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Yang and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin both attended the event.

At the time, Wang said China's ties with Russia were experiencing a dynamic and fruitful era.

The first China-Russia Expo was a new platform to "boost strategic cooperation on large projects in fields of aerospace, nuclear power, machinery manufacturing, finance and cross-border infrastructure construction", he added.

The five-day event attracted more than 10,000 foreign entrepreneurs from 67 countries and regions, nearly half of them from Russia. Some 150 foreign experts and scholars as well as 66 Chinese and Russian colleges and universities participated in the expo.

During the event, the Heilongjiang government signed import and export contracts worth nearly $3.2 billion and reached agreements on 260 economic and technological cooperation projects. One important event of last year's expo, the China-Russia matchmaking project, attracted 590 State-owned Chinese companies and 356 Russian enterprises, including United Aircraft Corp and the aluminum giant Rusal.

Contact the writers through haonan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 07/21/2015 page7)