About 30 delegates from Gansu Province visited St. Petersburg within the framework of the Chinese Business Centre (CDC) in order to strengthen business cooperation between the two countries.

According to Mr Wu Shibin, vice-secretary of the Gansu Provincial Government, the platform of the Chinese Business Centre is an effective place for the development of business and cultural relations, “Me and my colleagues have arrived here from different areas of the provincial administration, including the tourism and health business representatives, to demonstrate the capabilities of Gansu and to assess the Russian potential. First of all, we are interested in developing a tourist destination. There are all the necessary conditions and resources for this purpose. Our Gansu Province is located at the junction of the Loess Plateau, the Tibetan Plateau and the Mongolian plain and has lovely landscape views. Moreover, traditional medicine is also developed in the province, which is also interesting in terms of tourist attraction. Participation in the work of the Chinese Business Centre allows strengthening the ties between the two countries in this area, and we would like to take this chance”.

In turn, Andrey Pavlov, Deputy General Director for Commerce of ExpoForum-International, stressed that the relations between Russia and China are now on the rise; the two governments have planned a large programme of strategic partnership and cooperation, and the Chinese Business Centre in St. Petersburg contributes significantly to the development of these processes.

We would like to remind you that the CBC opened in the sixth pavilion of Lenexpo on 7 March with the support of the Chinese Society of St. Petersburg. By now, over 30 Chinese delegations have already visited the business area of the Centre.

On 9 July, Lenexpo put on a presentation of the Chinese Business Centre for a delegation from Anhui Province, China. The delegation included representatives of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) for Anhui Province, while the Russian side was represented by members of the Public Chamber of St. Petersburg and the Chinese Association of St. Petersburg.

The guests were greeted by the Director of the Chinese Business Centre, Elena Mushtatova. She emphasised that the Chinese Business Centre marks Russia’s first project in such a format, combining exhibition and office spaces, a business and cultural programme, and a wide range of services for the support of small and medium-sized business.

Brief remarks to the attendees were delivered by the Chairman of the Public Chamber of St. Petersburg, Nikolai Burov. He expressed confidence that ties between Russia and China would continue to strengthen, encouraged in that direction by the Chinese Business Centre: “We are very gratified that St. Petersburg has been graced by such a sustainable centre – it’s a centre of gravity, centre of balance, and a window to St. Petersburg, which has long been considered Russia’s window to Europe”.

Nikolai Burov also added that in September, the Public Chamber of St. Petersburg, in conjunction with the Chinese Association of St. Petersburg and ExpoForum International, would use the Chinese Business Centre to host a Victory Celebration in honour of the 70th Anniversary of the End of the Second World War and 70th Anniversary of China’s Victory Over Japanese Militarism. The event will feature the participation of a delegation from Shanghai, including representatives from the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) for Shanghai.

Meeting participants were thanked for their warm reception and hospitality by the Head of the Chinese delegation – the General Secretary of the CPPCC Committee for Anhui Province, Wan Tzimin. He noted that China had received great support from Russia in terms of development of the New Silk Road project, as well as in the Volga-Yangtze area. Mr. Tzimin also expressed the hope that Russia’s cooperation with the province would continue, particularly in light of the fact that Anhui ranks 14th in terms of growth among China’s 31 provinces and is continuing to develop at a brisk pace (9.6% in the first two quarters of the year).

On 1 July, the Lenexpo Exhibition Complex hosted a presentation of the Chinese Business Centre for more than 20 delegates from China. The delegation included representatives of the State Committee for Chinese Diaspora Affairs, as well as businesspeople from Beijing and the provinces of Jiangsu, Shandong and Shanxi.

Welcoming the delegation’s participants, the Deputy General Director of ExpoForum International, Andrei Pavlov, noted that these types of meetings help smooth cooperation between the countries: “The leaders of our two nations have just announced a strategic partnership between Russia and China – the Chinese Business Centre has been established to build on this partnership in St. Petersburg”.

Andrei Pavlov added that the Chinese Business Centre is being actively occupied by Russian and Chinese companies. The venue has been visited by roughly 30 delegations from such Chinese provinces as Sichuan, Shaanxi, Qinghai, Heilongjiang, Hubei, Guizhou and Guangdong. The Centre also hosts cultural and business events, and the result of all of this work could well include an increase in trade turnover between the countries, as well as a strengthening of cultural ties.

According to the Deputy Chairman of the Association of Expat Chinese from Jiangsu Province Li Zhensheng, the delegation’s participants are considering possible scenarios of cooperation with the Chinese Business Centre: “We would like to arrange a St. Petersburg-based business club and discuss the various pressing issues of concern to both the Chinese and Russian business communities. For instance, we would be interested in touching on the issue of the development of the New Silk Road, which would connect three continents and pass, among other countries, through China and Russia”.

The meeting ended with the execution of a memorandum on cooperation between ExpoForum International and the global convention-and-exhibition company Zhizhantiahue. The document was signed by the Deputy General Director of ExpoForum International Andrei Pavlov and Zhizhantiahue CEO Yui Chansin.

On 19 June, the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum was the scene of a meeting between members of the Russian and Chinese business communities, at which ExpoForum International and the Chinese Association of St. Petersburg discussed the work of the recently opened Chinese Business Centre.

The organisers of the event gathered together an interested group of Russian and Chinese businesspeople, as well as representatives of state structures, the scientific community and business associations. The Chinese side, aside from CBC partner and Chairman of the Chinese Association of St. Petersburg Chen Zhigang, was represented at the meeting by Ms. Tsai Guizhou – President of the Union of Chinese Entrepreneurs in Russia, President of “Greenwood” Business Park, and representatives of Chinese small and medium-sized business.

Chen Zhigang, Chairman of the Chinese Association of St. Petersburg, relayed that, in the two-and-a-half months since its opening, the CBC had received more than 30 Chinese delegations. For Chinese business, the opening of such a centre provides impetus for ramped-up activities in Russia. Alexei Kalashnik, Executive Director of the Russian-Chinese Business Council, noted that the Chinese Business Centre represents a long-awaited platform for the implementation of joint economic projects between Russia and China. He proposed augmenting the Centre’s list of tasks with the formation of delegations for participation in major events held in China.

Mikhail Penziev, First Deputy Chairman of the St. Petersburg Committee on Industrial Policy and Innovation, discussed the potential of the cities industrial sites in terms of Chinese participation in joint projects. According to Mr. Penziev, St. Petersburg currently has approximately 200 ha of available land, which the city is prepared to allot for industrial projects while helping with infrastructure.

An important issue in the area of cross-country cooperation is staffing. IgorMaximtsev, Rector of the St. Petersburg State University of Economics, underscored the significance of qualified staffing, announcing that the university was addressing the issue and training high-caliber professionals with an advanced level of Chinese-language proficiency.

Sergei Voronkov, General Director of ExpoForum International, is confident that the Chinese Business Centre will emerge as a single-wicket for cooperation among Russian and Chinese small and medium-sized business. “Above and beyond the achievement of business goals – the hosting of conferences, meetings, consultations and presentations – we want to create a reliable base permeated with the unique atmosphere of China, showcasing the country’s cultural, medical and gastronomic traditions”, explained Sergei Georgievich.

An important outcome of the meeting was an agreement on the opening of a chapter of the Union of Chinese Entrepreneurs in Russia, to be based at the Chinese Business Centre.