Harbin Taiping International Airport – in Harbin city, in China’s northernmost Heilongjiang province which borders Russia – handled a record number of cargo flights going to Russia this year, achieving growth despite the negative general effects of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
 
Statistics from Harbin Airport Group showed that it had handled a total of 78 cargo flights to Russia as of the end of August.

Officials at Harbin Airport Group said 132,000 items of cargo weighing 1,901.8 metric tons were transported,  a year-on-year increase of 36.4 percent.
 
As one of the earliest cities in China to carry out trade and commerce with Russia, Harbin has a history of more than 100 years of Russian cooperation in business.
 
In recent years, against the background of the Chinese government's continuous promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative, Harbin has had extensive and in-depth dealings with Russia in many economic and trade fields, by virtue of its geographical location.
 
However, affected by the coronavirus epidemic, international aviation capacity was tight and freight rates rose. The number of general flights from Harbin to Russia has decreased significantly and the international logistics channel between Harbin and Russia was at one stage blocked.
 
Officials introduced that Harbin Airport Group has coordinated with carrier Russian Ural Airlines to open a cargo route instead of the previous passenger flight from Harbin to the city of Yekaterinburg. This has enabled the delivery of small packages and multiple batches of mail parcels, ensuring the stability of cargo transport capacity, freight rate and timetables.
 
They said that the stable operation of Harbin's cross-border aviation logistics fast track channel to Russia has provided Russian netizens with fast services.
 
Their demand for Chinese daily necessities, anti-epidemic products, clothing, plastics and other products has increased significantly, driving the prosperity of aviation logistics between Harbin and Russia.