The ongoing China-Russia Expo presents a significant opportunity for both countries to boost bilateral cooperation and trade, said a Chinese senior diplomat.

"The expo has become one of the most important platforms for bilateral trade and economic exchanges," said Li Hui, China's ambassador to Russia. "Its increasing influence should be attributed to the development of its predecessor, the China Harbin International Economic and Trade Fair, which has been held for the past 25 years."

Renamed last year, the expo was formerly called the China Harbin International Economic and Trade Fair, an annual cooperation project between China and Russia since 1990.

Nearly 10,000 businesspeople from 103 countries and regions are taking part in the expo that opened in Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, on Monday and ends on Friday.

More than 4,000 of the businesspeople are from Russia, which borders Heilongjiang. Some 170 large-scale Chinese enterprises and more than 50 leading Russian enterprises, including Sinara Group, Gazprombank, CTZ-Uraltrak and Rusnano, are attending the expo.

The expo has also become more than a platform for China-Russia economic exchanges and has played a unique role in promoting the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, Li said. Businesspeople from more than 60 countries along the Belt and Road routes attending the expo are proof of that, he added.

The 86,000-square-meter exhibition at the Harbin International Conference Exhibition and Sports Center is expected to attract more than 1,200 enterprises from more than 20 countries and regions, among which overseas exhibitors account for 45 percent of the total.

Some 46 activities, including seminars, investment promotions and commerce fairs, will be held on the sidelines of the expo. Moreover, 15 key commerce events covering a range of industries, including railways, forestry, finance, tourism and e-commerce, will also be held at the expo.

The expo is jointly organized by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, the Heilongjiang provincial government, the Russian Ministry of Economic Development and the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Grand opening

Vice-Premier Wang Yang and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin attended the opening ceremony for the expo on Sunday night at the Harbin Grand Theater, a city landmark recently completed and opened to the public on Aug 28.

China and Russia are pushing forward a comprehensive strategic partnership, Wang said. China would like to integrate the Belt and Road Initiative with Russia's strategy of developing the Far East and strengthen cooperation in aerospace, nuclear energy, civil aviation and cross-border transportation, he said.

Russia would like to expand cooperation with China and create a more open and favorable environment for cooperation, Rogozin said.

The two countries are likely to sign two major aerospace agreements - a deal on the Russian export of rocket engines to China and another deal on the Chinese export of electrical equipment for spacecraft - at the end of the year, he said.

Other senior officials who attended the ceremony include: Wang Xiankui, Party chief of Heilongjiang; Lu Hao, deputy Party chief and governor of Heilongjiang; Du Yuxin, chairman of the Heilongjiang provincial Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference; Yu Guangzhou, minister of the General Administration of Customs; Nuer Baikeli, director of the National Energy Administration; and Zhong Shan, China's international trade representative and vice-minister of commerce.

A Chinese symphony orchestra and Russian singers and dancers performed at the ceremony.

Increasing influence

Themed "Working Closer to Seize the Opportunity Brought by the Silk Road Economic Belt", the China-Russia Expo serves as a platform to strengthen bilateral cooperation and exchanges, promote the common development of countries and regions along the Road and Belt, and help implement China's Internet Plus strategy.

In March, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce issued a guideline for the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative appropriately called "Vision and Proposed Actions Outlined on Jointly Building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road".

The China-Russia Expo was named within the guideline as one of 10 regional platforms for the promotion of the development of the Belt and Road Initiative. Other platforms include the Boao Forum for Asia, the China-ASEAN Expo and the China-Eurasia Expo.

In a joint communiqu on deepening the China-Russia partnership issued in May of last year, the two countries vowed to increase the influence of the annual event.

Nearly 10,000 businesspeople from 103 countries and regions are taking part in the expo to exhibit their products to potential buyers. From top: A booth displays Russian cooking oil; a Russian band performs; a Chinese visitor talks with exhibitors; the city of Sverdlovsk, Russia, has its own booth; and Russian President Vladimir Putin can be seen on a monitor at a Russian booth. [Photos provided to China Daily]

Emphasis on the Internet

This year's China-Russia Expo is utilizing new information technologies including big data and the mobile Internet. Enterprises in such sectors as e-commerce, Internet technology and logistics were invited to form a large exhibit for cross-border e-commerce at the expo in an effort to strengthen cooperation between e-commerce enterprises along the Belt and Road routes.

A WeChat platform for the expo was also created to offer convenient services to visitors and exhibitors, such as questions and answers, booking tickets and WeChat payments.

The logistics question

Jiang Zhenjun, deputy director of the Russian Research Institute at Heilongjiang University, said one of the problems in implementing the Belt and Road Initiative is logistics, which is also an issue that hinders e-commerce cooperation between China and Russia. Finding a solution to these issues provides a golden opportunity for greater cooperation in the sector.

Mail from China accounts for 17 percent of Russia's international mail, and Russia has become the largest market for Chinese cross-border e-commerce enterprises, he said.

Goods sent by store owners on Taobao, China's largest online shopping platform, to Russia every day are worth $4 million, he said.

E-commerce businesses in China and Russia should adopt multiple ways of payment to facilitate customers on both sides, he said.

Meanwhile, customs from both countries should speed up the creation of electronic ports and improve their work efficiency to handle increasing e-commerce transactions, he added.

Wang Xianju, deputy head of the Institute of Eurasian Social Development at the State Council Development Research Center, said Heilongjiang's Land and Maritime Silk Road Economic Belt, part of the Belt and Road Initiative, should be developed in coordination with Russia's strategy of developing its Far East region.

Russia has established nine pilot zones for priority development in such cities and regions as Komsomolsk, Khabarovsk and Amur. It is also building a free port in Vladivostok.

The Chinese government should encourage provinces in the nation's northeastern regions to strengthen cooperation with Russia's Far East region, Wang said. Chinese State-owned enterprises as well as small and medium-sized enterprises should seize the investment opportunity generated by the development strategy and play an active role in the region's infrastructure construction, he said.