Amur Region Suggests Several Joint Projects to China

BEIJING. Jan 28 (Interfax) – The Amur regional administration had drafted a plan of joint projects with China, First Vice-Governor Alexander Nozdrachev told Interfax.

“Certainly, we would like to upgrade the structure of our trade and economic relations. We have drafted a plan of joint projects we will soon offer to our Chinese partners,” he said.

Nozdrachev has visited Beijing to attend a Russia-China trade and economic forum.

“We have a large vacant land lot, where soy was being grown in the Soviet times. We will offer the Chinese Jilin province to cooperate in that area. We know that China would like to do that, but the project has not been implemented thus far,” he said.

The forestry industry is another important goal of the bilateral cooperation, the official said.

“In fact, we have a comprehensive forestry program and wish to process timber. There is a number of large investors, who have shown interest in joint projects,” he said.

“It is planned to enlarge lumber yards and build a number of factories to make plywood and prefabs. A factory making oriented standard boards (OSB) is under consideration,” Nozdrachev said.

Cooperation with China can help the Amur region to resolve the housing problem of Blagoveshchensk. “The accommodation of Blagoveshchensk residents is a concern of the regional administration. The city needs 1.8 million square meters of housing space. Therefore, there is a plan to build a new residential area in the city’s north,” he said.

“We realistically estimate our potential: we must build the new residential area very quickly, but we are unable to do that alone. We hope that our foreign partner will help us. The project will be profitable for both sides,” he said.

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