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Construction of China-Russia border logistics hub begins
Heilongjiang hub will include warehousing space and cost about 3 billion yuan, will be part of province's pilot free trade zone
Michael Marray 25 Sep 2019

Construction has got underway on a China-Russia cross-border logistics hub in Heihe, Heilongjiang Province.

The Heihe-Yuexing logistics hub, including warehousing space, covers about one square kilometer and will cost around 3 billion yuan (US$423.4 million), local authorities told Xinhua.

The project aims to establish an intelligent logistics platform, and forms part of the Heilongjiang pilot free trade zone.

In August, China announced plans for six new pilot free trade zones (FTZs).

The new pilot FTZs will be located in the six provincial regions of Shandong, Jiangsu, Guangxi, Hebei, Yunnan and Heilongjiang, according to the plan released by the State Council.

This will bring the total number of the country's pilot FTZs to 18, which serve as pioneers of the country's reform and opening up as they test new styles of foreign investment management, trade facilitation and transformation of government functions to better integrate the economy with international practices.

The six new pilot FTZs will be tasked with differentiated reform try-outs, according to the plan.

For example, development of the marine economy is one of the focuses for the pilot FTZ in Shandong, a coastal province, while building a new type of industrial base is part of the plan for Hebei, which neighbors Beijing and Tianjin.

Supporting innovation and development of the manufacturing industry is one of the goals for the pilot FTZ in Jiangsu, a manufacturing hub in the east. Meanwhile, Guangxi in the southwest will step up cooperation with the ASEAN region in its pilot FTZ.

On September 18, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin to discuss bilateral relations.

Li arrived in Moscow after holding talks and co-chairing the 24th regular meeting between Chinese and Russian heads of government with his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, in St. Petersburg.

During Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Russia in June this year, the China-Russia relationship was elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era.

Noting that China and Russia have broad prospects for cooperation, Li said that China stands ready to better synergize the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with the Eurasian Economic Union to promote the simultaneous increase in both the scale and the quality of the two-way trade.

The Eurasian Economic Union members are Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

China and Russia are developing extremely close ties in energy, with China signing long-term agreements to import both LNG and natural gas.

In December, Gazprom’s Power of Siberia pipeline is expected to begin piping natural gas to China.

In early September, a Gazprom delegation headed by Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Company's Management Committee, paid a visit to China.

In Beijing, there were meetings between Alexey Miller and Han Zheng, Vice Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, and Wang Yilin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of CNPC.

The meetings were focused on the state and prospects of energy cooperation, including pipeline gas supplies from Russia to China. Special attention was given to the status of preparations for gas supplies via the eastern route, which are going to start on December 1. Miller said that the Chayandinskoye field had been connected to the pipeline in August.

Russian pipeline gas deliveries will help enhance the reliability of gas supplies across China and will make a substantial contribution to the implementation of China's plans for switching from coal to gas and for environmental improvements.

In addition, the meetings touched upon the collaboration in the areas of underground gas storage and gas-fired power generation in China.

Gazprom's main partner in China is CNPC, a state-owned oil and gas company.

In May 2014, Gazprom and CNPC signed a 30-year Sales and Purchase Agreement for Russian gas to be supplied via the eastern route (Power of Siberia gas pipeline). The document provides for gas deliveries to China in the amount of 38 billion cubic meters per year.

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