Guests from China in Tatarstan: planting fir trees, trips to KAMAZ and negotiations with the rais

Levitin and Fayzullin will come to the final

The second International Forum ROSTCHI in Kazan, whose name is formed from the words Russia — Tatarstan — China, is expected to bring together 67 presidents and heads of large corporations from China. At least such a number of top officials of large Chinese businesses have registered to participate in this event, despite the novelty of the Tatarstan venue, Talia Minullina, the head of the Investment Development Agency of the Republic of Tatarstan, shared the latest news in the morning.

“You know, the ROSTCHI forum is only in its second year, but in terms of its popularity it is not inferior to the federal KazanForum. Not only a large number of participants are expected here, but also busy business meetings, backstage negotiations and cultural events," she is optimistic.

The program is structured 'in reverse': the first days are dedicated to business discussions and working meetings, and their results are to be summarised at the plenary session on November 15. Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation Igor Levitin, who oversees the creation of international transport corridors, and Minister of Construction and Housing of the Russian Federation Irek Fayzullin are expected to arrive in Kazan on this day.

The delegation from the People's Republic of China is headed by the Vice Governor of Jilin Province, Liang Renzhe, the Secretary General of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export, Guo Kuilun, and the Chairman of the Union of Chinese Entrepreneurs in Russia, Zhou Lixun, who is visiting for the second time.

China saw “green” energy potential in Tatarstan

On the first day of the forum, officials of Tatarstan and China decided to strengthen their relations with a tree planting ceremony. As a sign of friendship and cooperation in the Tukay Square in Kazan, they planted 12 blue fir trees. Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Tatarstan Alexander Shadrikov, Secretary General of the Chinese Alliance for High-Quality Development of Future Education Jin Wenjun, Minister Plenipotentiary, Trade Representative of the People's Republic of China in Russia Liu Jun and guests from Changsha, Hunan Province took up shovels.

And it is for a reason, because the Chinese authorities encourage green energy. In many cities, there is a whole culture of growing trees, they have a lot of greenery. Alexander Shadrikov told his Chinese colleagues that over the past 30 years, Tatarstan's GRP has tripled in comparable prices, and emissions into the atmosphere have decreased by more than 20%.

“Such environmental parameters have been achieved through the introduction of modern production technologies. Tatarstan enterprises and government policy in general are aimed at implementing the principles of a green economy," the minister said. According to the results of the ESG ranking of regions for 2022 and 2023, compiled by the National Rating Agency together with Lomonosov Moscow State University, Tatarstan is in the top three.

Meanwhile, Chinese businessmen have dispersed to major enterprises in Tatarstan. “The first delegations have already arrived. The Chinese are interested in KAMAZ, Tatneft, and the Kazan Helicopter Plant. The other part went to Alabuga SEZ, to Innopolis, someone will visit the Khimgrad technopolis," Talia Minullina said. In addition, during the day, many events were held on the basis of the Kazan Federal University and other universities in the field of education. A number of Chinese delegations are holding meetings at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Tatarstan. In the afternoon, the rais of the Republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, holds bilateral talks, where he exchanges impressions with colleagues from China.

What do Chinese investors want?

Tatarstan has succeeded in attracting investments from China by agreeing to open production facilities with Haier Corporation. What can attract other global players from China? “They want government guarantees of their investments. They are concerned about this, as the Agreement on the Protection and Encouragement of Investments (SPEI) is important to them. When we sign agreements on behalf of the republic, they like this approach. Therefore, we will have a separate session with the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia dedicated to investments. Here we will talk about state support measures," the head of the agency explained.

The Chinese manufacturer of household appliances Haier is going to open a new plant for the assembly of water heaters in Naberezhnye Chelny soon. “Haier is doing well, the company's delegation is participating in our event. On November 27, they plan to officially open a new plant. If the opening of new production facilities continues, then everything is in order," Talia Minullina said. It has become known that the plant of the Chinese company TPV Technology has been shut down in Shushary, Leningrad region. They have been assembling televisions of global brands since 2011.

Haier's mood is more optimistic. The fifth plant will be located in the Haier RUS industrial park, investments in the construction of the new enterprise amounted to more than 4 billion rubles. The State Construction Supervision of the Republic of Tatarstan issued a conclusion on the compliance of the facility with building standards at the end of September this year. The area of the enterprise is 28,000 square metres.

Russia's main trading partner

China has remained our country's main trading partner for 14 years in a row, and Russia has risen to eighth place among China's largest trading partners. The volume of China's trade with Russia in the first 10 months of 2024 increased by 2.8% and amounted to $202.2 billion. Shipments to Russia increased by 4.7%, to $94.14 billion, from Russia — by 1.1%, to $108.07 billion, the General Customs Administration of the People's Republic of China reported.

In October, Chinese supplies to Russia soared by more than a quarter — by 26.7%, to $11 billion, and in China — decreased by 2.8%, to $10.8 billion. How Russia and China are looking for ways of rapprochement are to be discussed at the meetings of the forum, but there is a point for establishing direct ties. Alabuga SEZ has completed the construction of the first stage of the Deng Xiaoping Logistics Centre.

“There is a test mode in the park, the first container train has been sent, this work is going well, but the grand opening will take place later, in accordance with the schedule of high-ranking federal guests. Initially, we planned to link it to oil refining, and according to the plan, this is how it is going. We are discussing the shipment of grain to China. E-commerce will go in the opposite direction," said the head of the agency.

While there are no Chinese residents in the park, goods are coming from Tatarstan, but the republic hopes that in the future goods from all over the Volga Region will flow there:

“We expect that other global manufacturers from China will show interest in Tatarstan. We will hold negotiations with them, and this is what this platform is designed for. We want to get to know each other better, find out their interests, learn their technologies, understand how much we can support our suppliers and what demand there is in the market. Tatarstan's leadership is planning a round table discussion with Chinese companies, where we will discuss what they wanted to produce in our republic," Talia Minullina concluded.