China Focuses on Russian Border Area... Invests 90 Trillion in Northeast

Focusing on Underdeveloped Northeast by Strengthening China-Russia Economic Ties

China is expanding its investment in the northeastern region bordering Russia. This is not only a follow-up measure for the region that has experienced relatively sluggish economic growth but is also interpreted as part of strengthening economic cooperation with Russia.

The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council announced on the 25th that it held a "Symposium on Deepening the Reform of State-owned Assets and State-owned Enterprises in the Northeast Region" in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China. The symposium involved the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commissions and local state-owned enterprises from the three northeastern provinces of Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, discussing strategic approaches for developing emerging industries.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

According to local media such as China Economic Daily, following the symposium, the three northeastern provinces and Inner Mongolia signed 111 cooperation projects with state-owned enterprises. The total investment amount for these projects reportedly reached 500 billion yuan (approximately 90.235 trillion won).

Although specific project details were not disclosed, it is known that they cover various fields including industry, agriculture, energy, and infrastructure.

China has shown its willingness to invest in and develop the northeastern region, which has experienced relatively slow economic growth. In particular, as economic cooperation with Russia has expanded recently, this border-adjacent region appears to be affected.

In fact, the region's GDP in the first quarter of this year outperformed the national average. Jilin Province recorded 8.2%, ranking first among 31 provinces and municipalities nationwide, while Heilongjiang posted 5.1%, Liaoning 4.7%, and Inner Mongolia 5.6%, all exceeding the national average of 4.5%. Although there is a base effect due to last year's COVID-19 lockdowns, the rapid recovery of infrastructure industries such as construction is considered a significant factor.

Since the 1st of this month, Jilin Province has secured the right to use the Russian Far East's Vladivostok port as its "inland cargo trade intermediary port." This allows the province to freely use Vladivostok port as if it were a domestic port without paying tariffs when transporting food and coal to southern China.

Prior to this, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a bilateral agreement to supply Russian natural gas from the Far East to China's northeastern region. From January to May this year, Russia increased its gas exports to China by more than 67% compared to the same period last year.

The overall trade volume is also showing a significant increase. According to the General Administration of Customs of China, from January to May, China's trade volume with Russia increased by 28.9% compared to the same period last year. This figure is nearly three times the overall trade growth rate of China (10.3%). In May, China's exports to Russia amounted to 4.32 billion USD (approximately 5.6263 trillion won), down 8.6% year-on-year, while imports from Russia reached 10.27 billion USD, up 79.6%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.