Link expected to boost bilateral trade, tourism
The planned high-speed railway link connecting China's northeastern region and Russia will play a crucial role in boosting bilateral trade as well as international exchange, an expert noted over the weekend.
The comment came after reports said that Alexandr Galushka, minister for the Development of the Russian Far East, and China Railway Oriental International Construction Corp General Manager Cai Zemin discussed the construction of the Harbin-Vladivostok high-speed railway on Friday in Beijing.
According to a statement from the Russian ministry, the rail project will involve a 380-kilometer line connecting Mudanjiang in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province with Vladivostok in Russia. The speed will be 250 kilometers per hour and the total cost may reach $19 billion, Russian news agency Sputnik reported on Friday.
The railway link will undoubtedly benefit both sides, said Lü Chao, a research fellow at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences. "The railway line will help carry out the Belt and Road initiative by connecting China, Russia and the European market," he said.
Considering that Russia's Primorsky Territory in the country's Far East and Harbin in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province both have rich tourism resources, the railway link will also contribute to the two areas' tourism industries, Lü said.
Domestic news site reported on Saturday that the comprehensive entertainment and scenic spots in Primorsky can be a major attraction of the railway line.
Cai said more than 65 million people live in the Chinese border region, and this will create enough demand to yield good returns, according to the report.
At present, China and Russia are actively cooperating in the high-speed railway sector.
Premier Li Keqiang and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a joint communiqué on Wednesday, stating that the two sides should enhance cooperation on high-speed rail, in terms of technology, equipment and investment, so that a date can be set to initiate the Moscow-Kazan high-speed rail project, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
In October, Sputnik reported that the Russian side was negotiating with China about establishing a joint venture to manufacture bullet trains in Moscow, and China's rail transit equipment manufacturer CRRC Corp is drawing up a related document.
However, Zhao Jian, a professor at Beijing Jiaotong University, told the Global Times on Sunday that investment returns from the China-Russia high-speed passenger trains cannot be guaranteed because of the relatively low population in the border regions and the long distance between the two countries.
"But it is profitable to build mixed high-speed trains transporting both passengers and cargo, which run at a speed of 160 kilometers per hour," he said.
China has been Russia's largest trade partner for the last seven years, Xinhua said in July.
