Vladimir Putin in push for stronger trade ties during visit to China’s northeast
- At expo opening in Harbin, Russian leader tries to woo Chinese investors to the Far East and calls for upgrade to cross-border infrastructure
- He also lays flowers at a monument to fallen Soviet soldiers who fought for China against the Japanese and visits Eastern Orthodox church
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Harbin in northeast China on Friday, pushing for more cooperation on trade and infrastructure in Russia’s Far East – a key region in his “pivot to the East” strategy to counter economic pressure from the West.
Their discussions included a proposal for trilateral talks with North Korea to give Chinese ships access to the Tumen River to transit to the Sea of Japan, or East Sea – a move that could improve transport links in the country’s northeast as tensions rise with the US over the South China Sea.
“We can see a large potential for expanding ties between Russia’s Far East and northeastern provinces of the People’s Republic of China,” Putin told Chinese officials and businesspeople at the ceremony.
Harbin is the capital of Heilongjiang province, which shares a 3,045km (4,900-mile) border with Russia – or about 70 per cent of the boundaries between the two countries.