Heilongjiang boosted by foreign trade growth with Russia

The media gets the lowdown on foreign trade initiatives, at a press conference held by provincial government's Information Office, on March 29. [Photo/chinanews.com]

Foreign trade between Heilongjiang province in northeastern China and Russia experienced rapid growth in the first two months of 2019, thanks to deepening and expanding Sino-Russian cooperation, according to officials.

Statistics released by the Harbin customs department on March 29 showed that the total value of the province's imports and exports surged by 12.5 percent year-on-year to reach 29.39 billion yuan ($4.38 billion).

Commerce with Russia made up the bulk of that, with the total value of Heilongjiang's imports and exports to that country coming in at 20.7 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 11.7 percent. Trade with Russia accounted for 68.3 percent of the total value of the province's imports and exports.

Heilongjiang is at the forefront of China's opening up to Russia. To further improve its customs clearance efficiency, on March 29 Harbin customs launched 16 measures to optimize its port business environment and facilitate cross-border trade.

Preferential policies include implementing a "pre-release and post-test" supervision mode for imported iron, manganese, chromium, lead, zinc and other mineral products and an internet plus-driven customs clearance mechanism.