The fifth meeting of the intergovernmental Russian-Chinese commission for cooperation and development of the Far East of the Russian Federation and the Northeast of the People's Republic of China was held in Vladivostok. The event was headed by 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 Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Zhang Guoqing.
One of the topics of discussion was the Northern Sea Route. In 2023, companies from China made the first eight cruises on the NSR.
"We believe that, taking into account all the efforts made, in a few years the Northern Sea Route will become a popular and reliable transport corridor from Europe to Asia. We also invite you to work conscientiously on the development and arrangement of the Northern Sea Route, the construction of the ice-class merchant fleet, insurance of ships and cargo moving along the NSR," Trutnev said.
He also said that China is Russia's main economic partner in the Far East. In ten years, the trade turnover of the Russian Far East with China has doubled and reached 2 trillion rubles in 2023. The parties separately discussed the topic of tourism development. Of the 107,000 Chinese tourists who visited Russia under the visa-free regime program, 70% chose the Far East.
The emphasis was placed on the joint development of Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island. Within the framework of the Unified Concept of the island's development, a cargo and passenger cross-border crossing will be built. An international cooperation center and a tourist infrastructure will be established on the island. It is planned that by 2030, cargo turnover through the island will reach 1.3 million tons, passenger traffic will amount to 1.4 million people, b-port.com reports.
Alex Shishlo, Chief Editor of the European Bureau, Rough&Polished
