Russia and China sign investment cooperation plan, documents on collaborating in chemicals and transport
MOSCOW. Aug 21 (Interfax) - Russia and China have approved a new plan for bilateral investment cooperation, with the parties signing the corresponding document during the 29th regular meeting of Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang.
The parties have also confirmed the protocol of the eleventh meeting of the Russia-China intergovernmental commission on investment cooperation, an Interfax correspondent reported from the signing ceremony
As reported, the bilateral intergovernmental commission on investment cooperation held a meeting in Moscow at the end of July, during which Russia and China agreed to update the list of significant projects. The list should include more than 60 initiatives with declared investment exceeding $138 billion, First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, who heads the Russian commission, said earlier.
The relative commission currently oversees more than 80 projects totaling around $200 billion, including large significant and promising investment projects.
Russia's Industry and Trade Ministry and China's Industry and IT Ministry have also signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the chemical industry as part of the meeting between Mishustin and Li Qiang on Wednesday.
The respective transport ministries of Russia and China have signed a memorandum of understanding on the matter of promoting the use of highly automated vehicles in cross-border freight transport.
The respective ministries have also approved a memorandum of understanding on collaborating in the area of search and rescue at sea.
Russia's Construction Ministry and China's Housing, Urban and Rural Development Ministry have signed a memorandum of understanding on enhancing cooperation in the area of green construction.
Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov after the meeting said that the heads of government had "discussed joint plans in two key areas of cooperation, namely increasing mutual trade indicators and extending investment cooperation."
Reshetnikov said that the countries would be able to accelerate the growth rate of mutual trade by eliminating bottlenecks in interbank settlements and transport and logistics infrastructure. The relevant Russian and Chinese agencies are currently handling the matter.
"A separate path of collaboration is tourism. Thanks to the mutual simplification of visa requirements and the resumption of visa-free group trips, the mutual flow of tourists reached 1.2 million people in 2023," Reshetnikov said, citing data.
"In terms of visiting Russia, Chinese tourists are now the leaders among non-CIS countries, having made 477,000 trips last year. Russians are currently in fifth place in terms of the number of visits to China at 734,000 trips. Demand for mutual trips in our countries continues to grow. We expect that the flow of tourists should grow to 2 million people by the end of 2024."