The city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province, has been confirmed as a permanent rotating Chinese host of the China-Russia Expo, which will be held in the city this year, Oct 12 - 16, the organizer said at a recent press conference.

This year, the expo will cover an area of 86,000 square meters at the Harbin International Exhibition, Convention and Sports Center and have pavilions for Russia and other countries, as well as Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and separate ones for building materials, electromechanical products, green food, the culture industry, and furniture.

There will be negotiations on cross-border e-commerce, finance and tourism, small-to-mid-size enterprise development, investment promotions and many other events. The Chinese and Russian vice premiers in charge of the event have met twice to discuss arrangements for the event. Next year, plans call for the expo to be in Russia’s St Petersburg or Yekaterinburg.

Last year, China’s Vice-Premier Wang Yang and Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin both attended the event.