Russia's northwestern region Vologda held an economic and
cultural promotion conference in Beijing Monday, starting a series
of regional promotion conferences for the "Year of Russia" in
China.
Addressing the conference, Vjacheslav Pozgalov, the governor of
Vologda, said he and his party not only bring to China New Year's
greetings and traditional arts, but also economic projects covering
areas like metallurgy, forestry, finance and others.
He said Vologda has conducted cooperation in metallurgy,
chemical industry and agriculture in China. He hoped the
cooperation would be enhanced.
At the conference, representatives from northeast China's Jilin
Province and Vologda signed an agreement on developing regional
cooperation ties.
Russian Ambassador to China Sergey Razov said the celebration of
the "Year of Russia" in China in 2006 and the "Year of China" in
Russia in 2007 is highly conducive to improving mutual
understanding between the two nations.
A formal opening ceremony of the "Year of Russia" will be held
during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to China in March,
he added.
Regional and local exchanges, as the pivotal parts of the
China-Russia strategic partnership of coordination, are the
important forces to push forward the partnership, said Razov,
adding that some 60 pairs of cities or provinces in Russia and
China have forged friendly ties.
Located in the northwest part of Russia, Vologda is one of the
largest regions in Russia's European part, covering an area of
145,700 square kilometers. It has a population of 1.25 million.
According to statistics provided by the Russian Embassy in
Beijing, the export of Vologda to China in 2005 jumped by 14 times
from that in 2000, while the import was doubled.
(Xinhua News Agency January 24, 2006)
