Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
HARBIN, May 21 (Xinhua) — “Heilongjiang Province is the only such strategic partner for the Jewish Autonomous Region (JAR), because we are separated only by the Amur (Heilongjiang River), and it does not just divide us, but on the contrary, it unites us,” said Acting Governor of the JAR Maria Kostyuk.
Maria Kostyuk made this statement on the sidelines of the 34th Harbin International Economic and Trade Fair, which is taking place in the city of Harbin (the administrative center of Heilongjiang Province, Northeast China) from May 17 to 21.
In her capacity as the head of the region, M. Kostyuk took part in the Harbin International Trade and Economic Fair for the first time, but she had previously attended it many times when she worked as an employee of the Birobidzhan city administration.
“We believe that this is a connection between two neighbors. We are mainly building our trade and industrial relations with the border cities of Heilongjiang Province. We already have experience of such long-term cooperation,” noted M. Kostyuk.
She called tourism a traditional area of cooperation between the Jewish Autonomous Region and Heilongjiang Province.
“Residents of China and Russia are always interested in communicating with each other as neighbors and close people. Therefore, we are ready to organize various tourist routes in the territory of the Jewish Autonomous Region specifically for the specifics and interests of the residents of China,” added M. Kostyuk.
According to her, the Tongjiang-Nizhneleninskoye cross-border bridge is now of greatest interest to investors and partners.
“We discussed with our Chinese colleagues transshipment cargo, construction of logistics hubs, passenger transportation, increasing the flow across the railway bridge and other issues,” explained M. Kostyuk.
In addition, in her opinion, the humanitarian direction of cooperation, which is actively carried out between the two sides in such areas as education, culture and sports, is not only important, but also historically significant.
“When we arrived in Harbin, the first thing we did was visit the monument to Soviet soldiers and lay flowers. We noted how well-kept it was, how the authorities were keeping an eye on the memory of our common history,” shared M. Kostyuk.
“Continuing our cooperation will be worthy. We must also go together today along one path in order to develop our mutual cooperation,” she concluded. -0-