China-Russia cooperation on Far East has huge potential

Cooperation between China and Russia on the development of the Far East region has huge potential, a senior Russian legislator said.

Russia is willing to attract investment from its partners on the "huge task" of developing the vast Siberia and Far East region, Valentina Matvienko, chairwoman of the Federation Council or upper house of the parliament, told Xinhua on Monday.

Matvienko, president of the 21st annual forum of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF), said the resource-rich Far East will become "an impetus for Russia's future growth."

She said the Russian government has been drawing a blueprint for boosting its Far East region, which will include a number of measures and steps to attract investors.

"Special favorable programs will be introduced to foreign investors. We expect a lot of investment will flow into the region," said the senior legislator.

The large-scale development program demands huge amount of investment into infrastructure, energy and transportation projects, she said.

"We need to develop airports, aviation industry, railways, roads. All of these areas are of great interests to a lot of foreign investors, including China," she said.

China's investment in Russia registered an 11-percent year-on-year increase last year. "We hope this increase will be even bigger this year," she said.

During her Monday meeting with Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress who led the Chinese delegation to the forum, the two sides also discussed cooperation on the development of the Far East, Matvienko.

Wu expressed China's interests in "highlighting a number of priority areas in the Siberia and Far East," she said.

She urged enterprises and local governments from both sides to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation in such fields as high-tech, infrastructure construction, energy and resources, and enlarge mutual investment.