Heilongjiang: Hub for trade with Russia

With the deepening of the strategic partnership between China and Russia, the province's level of economic and trade cooperation in Russia has also grown rapidly.

In the past, the province mostly imported logs from Russia.

Through years of effort, imported goods from Russia have grown to include crude and refined oil, iron ore, soybeans, coal, chemical fertilizers and electric power.

In the past year, Heilongjiang imported enough crude oil, timber and paper pulp from Russia to supply 7 percent of the nation's needs.

Forty-six percent of imported wood products from Russia are processed or deeply processed.

In 2012, potassium fertilizer imported from Russia to Heilongjiang accounted for one-fifth of the nation's total volume, meeting 17 percent of domestic market demand.

The amount of iron ore imported has also increased rapidly. Some 43.2 percent of the nation's imports of the mineral from Russia arrive in Heilongjiang.

The province has installed four electric transmission lines between Heihe and Amur Oblast, which created a new model in the nation for cross-border purchases of electricity.

Heilongjiang will buy an estimated 3.35 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity from Zeya River Hydropower Station in Amur Oblast this year.

The energy will meet domestic demand and also benefit the environment, making it a win-win project.

Russian coal has become very popular among Chinese iron and steel enterprises in recent years due to its reasonable price and good quality,

As well, more and more Heilongjiang entrepreneurs are going to Russia to develop their businesses.

Heilongjiang Dongning Jixin Group invested and constructed the Ussuriysk Kangji Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, one of eight overseas economic and trade cooperation zones ratified by the Ministry of Commerce. Twenty-five Chinese enterprises have now joined the zone.

In Ussuriysk, shoes made at the Kangji Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone and the Huayu Industrial Park - also comprised of Heilongjiang enterprises - meet one-10th of the Russian market demand.

Composite flooring, windows, doors and furniture made in Kangji are now sold in Europe and North America.

A thin-film solar power station in the zone can satisfy most of the electric power demand for the enterprises.

The zone provides the most profit and tax from Chinese companies in Russia and has won high recognition from the government.

Many other enterprises in Russian industrial zones have become successful examples, creating a favorable environment for Chinese enterprises to step out together and also promote the cooperation and development in border areas.

Amur Sirus Power Equipment Ltd is the only Chinese enterprise in the electric power equipment markets in Russia and Kazakhstan.

It has the most professional team in electric power cooperation with Russia including more than 150 translators.

The company's efforts helped a large number of Chinese equipment makers acquire the Russia's GOST certification for export of equipment as well as other use and network access licenses.

In 2011, the company, domestic design institutes, equipment manufacturers and installation firms established the Electric Power Cooperation Union with Russia.

They aim to jointly explore the Russian electricity market.

There are now 66 members in the union that have received orders for many large projects.

In the agricultural sector, Heilongjiang Dongning Huaxin Industry and Trade Co Ltd developed the Sino-Russian Modern Agriculture and Economic Cooperation Zone in Primorsky Kray.

Planters in the zone produce soybeans, corn and the most wheat in Primorsky Kray for six consecutive years, winning the award for "the best agricultural enterprise in Primorsky Kray" five times.

In the zone, 98 percent of the agricultural production uses advanced agricultural machinery and transport vehicles.

In addition to grain crops, pork and beef from the zone are sold in the markets of Vladivostok and Ussuriysk, where it supplies 80 percent of the market.

In 2011, Huaxin Group signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Heilongjiang Beidahuang Agriculture Co Ltd that brought a new model of agricultural development to Russia.

A number of farmers from Heilongjiang are planting in the zone, setting a solid foundation to meet the goal of producing 1 million tons of grain every year. Downstream operations include soybean and corn deep processing, dairy products and fuel ethanol production.

Headed by Huaxin Group, the Heilongjiang Agricultural Industry Cooperation Union to Russia was established last year to help more domestic enterprises establish operations in the neighboring country.