China, Russia vow to boost cooperation in Far Eastern development

KHABAROVSK, Russia -- Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Trutnev agreed here on Friday to strengthen the two countries' cooperation in developing the Far East.

The agreement was reached at a meeting between Wang and Trutnev in Khabarovsk on intergovernmental cooperation between China's northeastern regions and Russia's Far Eastern and Baikal regions.

Such cooperation is among the consensuses reached by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and is also a strategic direction for China-Russia cooperation, Wang said, hailing the achievements in Far Eastern development between China and Russia.

Trutnev said China is an important partner of Russia in regional cooperation.

China and Russia will improve the docking of their development strategies and policy coordination, and push ahead partnerships in trade, investment, tourism and people-to-people exchanges, according to Wang and Trutnev.

They said the two countries will start to compile a guideline for Chinese and Russian enterprises intending to participate in Far Eastern development.

Wang and Trutnev agreed to improve interconnectivity, boost infrastructure construction and build a number of big projects.

The two sides also decided to create a more favorable business environment, provide better financial services and further facilitate investment and trade.