Russia enhances attraction for Chinese investment

Officials from China and Russia jointly expressed anticipation for more Chinese investment in Russia as Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to visit China later this month.

Ling Ji, director general of the Department of Eurasian Affairs at the Ministry of Commerce told reporters on Tuesday that economic restructuring in bot countries brought about cooperation opportunities of large scale projects in many sectors, including energy and resource exploration, aviation, nuclear power and ship building, which will "have long-term and strategic significance".

Alexey Gruzdev, trade representative of the Russian Federation in China, echoed that both sides are planning large scale projects in infrastructure sector which marks the new era for bilateral economic cooperation. Some big projects will be announced this year, he added while declining to comment whether the increase of Chinese investment in Russia is driven by the Ukraine turmoil denting foreign direct investment in Russia and devaluing the country's currency.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to visit China on May 20, which will bring about fruits of large projects in trade and investment, Ling said.

China's direct investment in Russia maintained fast growth in recent years and increased by 500 percent year-on-year to $4 billion in 2013, according to the ministry.

The first China-Russia Expo will be held in Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, from June 30 to July 4.

China was the largest trade partner of Russia in the past four year while Russia is an important trade partner of China. Bilateral trade in the first four months of this year maintained growth from last year and expanded 3.4 percent year-on-year to $29.06 billion, said Ling. He added that bilateral trade structure is improving with fast increase of high-tech products and mechanical and electrical products, though energy and resources accounting for 80 percent of bilateral trade.