''Beautiful lady'' says where to invest: Tatarstan building bridges with another province of China
The parties are discussing direct flights
The need to connect the two regions by direct regular flights was immediately announced at the working meeting of President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov and Governor of Heilongjiang province of China Wang Wentao in Kazan. However, the cooperation will not be limited to tourism — the parties saw prospects in trade and economic relations and signed an agreement on cooperation. Read the details in the material of Realnoe Vremya.
Strategic partnership
The two-day visit of Governor of the Chinese province of Heilongjiang Wang Wentao to Tatarstan ended with the signing of an agreement on trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation. Before that, the Chinese side got acquainted with the island-town of Sviyazhsk and the Kazan Federal University, and the Investment Development Agency of Tatarstan demonstrated them the economic and investment potential.
''A comprehensive strategic partnership has been established between Russia and China, and constant political dialogue is maintained. We value the high level of relations, besides, the years 2018 and 2019 are declared years of establishing interregional cooperation between Russia and China,'' Rustam Minnikhanov said at the meeting.
He added that the representatives of the Chinese and Tatarstan sides actively visit each other — so, in September of this year the visit of the delegation of Tatarstan to Shandong province is planned. The existing agreements with five provinces are yielding results.
''Our trade and economic representative operates in Beijing. Trade turnover between us increased by 50% last year,'' the president of Tatarstan cited the figures, especially noting the Chinese national chemical engineering corporation. Haier, which already produces its products in the territory of Tatarstan, plans to create its own high-tech park in the country.
Historic mosque
The president of Tatarstan also touched upon cultural cooperation.
''At the beginning of the 20th century in Harbin, emigrant Tatars built a mosque, on the facade of which it is indicated that it is Turkish. Now it needs repair. I would like to ask Mr Governor and I would be very grateful if we could put it in order, repair and, if possible, fix the historical name of the mosque,'' Minnikhanov said.
The head of Tatarstan in 2015 visited Harbin, the administrative centre of the province, where he met with Lu Hao, who was the governor at that time. In 2016, Tatarstan was visited by Mayor of Harbin Song Xibin. In July of this year, Secretary of Harbin City Committee of CPC Wang Zhaoli came here for a visit.
Wang Wentao, in turn, noted that Tatarstan is an attractive region for investments, as he was told by, as the Governor of the province, ''beautiful lady'' — obviously, he meant Talia Minullina. Almost half of all China's minerals are concentrated in Heilongjiang province, it is an important centre of heavy industry.
''The province's GDP is $250 billion. In terms of trade turnover with Russia, it is second only to Beijing,'' Wang Wentao outlined the potential of his region.
Among the promising areas, he noted agriculture, education, tourism and touched on the topic of direct flights.
Regular working contacts
Rustam Minnikhanov explained that work with the province is possible in all directions: trade, economic, scientific, educational, cultural, sport.
''We are stepping up our work in the part of business delegations, tourism and educational programmes. It is important that direct flights are implemented. I am confident that our potential and the potential of Heilongjiang province will complement each other. In the near future you will see the results,'' Rustam Minnikhanov explained to Realnoe Vremya.
Wang Wentao added that regular working contacts should be established to effectively implement the signed agreement.
''This will allow to revive trade and economic relations in the field of engineering, agriculture. We work together for the implementation of specific projects,'' said the governor.