Russian Far East eyes closer cooperation with China

Russia's Far East region expects to develop closer economic cooperation with China, says the Amur region's governor.

Economic cooperation between Russian Far East and China has yielded fruits, and Moscow has been mulling more projects to boost bilateral trade, Oleg Kozhemyako told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"We plan to open a cable road to connect Heihe and Blagoveshchensk in the next two years. This is an unique project, first in the world," Kozhemyako said.

Blagoveshchensk, the capital city of Amur, and Heihe of China's Heilongjiang province, are separated by a river.

There are a series of cooperation projects between China and Amur and tourism has boomed in recent years, the governor said.

"Many Chinese citizens visit the Amur region, currently the number exceeded 35,000," Kozhemyako said.

Meanwhile, Russia welcomes more Chinese investment, especially in the industrial sector, and is ready to offer various tax benefits over the next 10 years, the governor said.

So far, Chinese investors haven't participated in such areas as forestry, building material, construction and customer goods production in Amur, he said.

The region, the governor said, welcomes Chinese investment in raw materials processing, gas and chemical production, and coal mining among other sectors.

Meanwhile, the region has been considering more projects to attract Chinese investors into the energy sector, such as building the Yerkovets heat power plant, he said.

Russia has completed a 500 kw power line over the Amur river, and power exports reached 2.6 billion kw compared to the previous 800 million kw. The governor estimated the total amount of electricity exported to China could reach 4 billion kw in the next few years.

Amur needs "serious investors" who come not to export raw materials only but to participate in deep processing, according to the governor.

"We will support those companies which plan to proceed the harvest and not to support those who only want to grow and sell," the governor said.

As director of an association in charge of implementing investment projects in the Far East, Kozhemyako said the region and Russia as well will strive to provide a safe and beneficial environment for foreign investors, he said.

He cited that a single state program and a law on developing the Far East will be submitted to the government in March, which would help create more favorable conditions for Russia's eastern partners.

It would also boost cross-border cooperation with China, since half of the raw materials, electricity, fishery produced in the Far East will go to China and Southeast Asia, Kozhemyako added.