Carving machine network http://www.gravograph.cn/ Reprinted
Heihe City, separated by a river from Blagoveshchensk City of Amur Oblast in Russia, looks like "twins" and is akin to one city when seen from the air.
Since the beginning of this year, Heihe and Blagoveshchensk have continued to promote the integrated development strategy of "one city in two countries" based on the principles of moving forward hand-in-hand, mutual benefit, and sharing harmony. They are actively developing towards the direction of "government interaction, resource sharing, market integration, platform co-use, joint prosperity of science and education, and cultural fusion," achieving new progress in many areas.
The two shores join hands for shared prosperity
The geographical location as "the window between China and Russia, the gateway between Europe and Asia," abundant natural resources, preferential investment policies, and excellent service environment make the twin cities of China-Russia - Heihe·Blagoveshchensk - an important platform for strategic investment.
On January 29, Mayor Zhang Jingchuan of the Heihe municipal government was invited to attend the launch ceremony of the Russian "China Year" in Amur Oblast, marking another good start for the cooperation and common development of the two places in 2007, jointly building "one city in two countries."
This year, Heihe and Blagoveshchensk continue to co-host image exhibitions and jointly appear at the Harbin Fair, once again drawing widespread attention from all sectors of society. Our city signed 67 contracts with a total domestic economic trade cooperation amount of 3.45 billion yuan and a total foreign economic trade amount of 820 million US dollars.
Last year, Heihe and Amur Oblast jointly went to Wenzhou, Suzhou, and Hangzhou for investment promotion and attracted attention in Jiangnan. This year, they also appeared together in Yantai, Weifang, and Quanzhou. At every place they visited, they jointly introduced the geographical and resource advantages of the two places and promoted investment projects, achieving fruitful results.
This summer, in order to further promote the strategy of "one city in two countries," Heihe, Amur Oblast, and the Blagoveshchensk municipal government jointly held the first Twin Cities Summer Festival - Heihe China-Russia International Cultural Festival. This event, themed around "neighborly friendship, interactive win-win, one city in two countries, sharing harmony," further created the new image of "a gem in the north, charming Heihe," "the window between China and Russia, the gateway between Europe and Asia," and "Heihe·Blagoveshchensk - one city in two countries."
As a whole, our city and Blagoveshchensk jointly participated in the Moscow·China National Exhibition and the 30th Amur Oblast Trade Fair. At the Amur Oblast Trade Fair, light industrial products, engineering machinery, pharmaceuticals, various vehicles exhibited by our city caught the attention of Russian business circles.
To achieve complementary advantages for mutual benefits
Heihe and Blagoveshchensk have very strong complementarities. Digging into their common interests, promoting cross-border flow of production factors, and comprehensively strengthening multi-field cooperation are necessary for their common development and mutual benefits.
Mr. Wang, a Chinese-Russian overseas Chinese, seeing the favorable policies and good investment environment of our city, decisively decided to invest. Recently, the high-end hotel he invested in, which combines Chinese and Western dining cultures, has already opened.
On May 12, our city held the 2007 Beidaihe, Heihe, Russian Amur Oblast Tourism Industry Fellowship Meeting. Tourism industry people from three places jointly planned cooperative development, laying the foundation for realizing complementary advantages, cooperative win-win, and common development. In recent years, tens of thousands of Russian tourists pass through the Heihe port to travel to Beidaihe every year.
At the Twin Cities Summer Festival - China-Russia Heihe International Cultural Festival, frequent news came about regional cooperation projects between Heihe and Blagoveshchensk. Agreements were signed for 17 cooperation projects, including five foreign trade projects and twelve economic and technical cooperation projects, with a total investment of 600 million yuan.
The first phase of the emerging basic raw material processing zone has been put into operation, introducing 500 million kWh of electricity from Russia. The second phase of the project is under accelerated construction. On July 26, the official opening of the Heihe converter station project of the China-Russia DC back-to-back interconnection project marked a new milestone in China-Russia power cooperation.
At the Amur Oblast Trade Fair, Tianmo Hai Computer Company brought its latest product - laser engraving machines - filling the gap in the Amur Oblast market. Daheihe Island Baocheng Home Appliances has stores in both Blagoveshchensk and Heihe, selling well-known brand home appliances produced through Sino-foreign joint ventures, reaping substantial profits. Aihui District strongly promotes openness, organizing more than 20 enterprises and over 100 types of products for exhibition, pushing Longdan infant formula, Xifengshan starch, Changping furniture, and other products into international markets.
Under the impetus of the "one city in two countries" strategic concept, enterprises from both sides closely cooperate, consolidating cooperation in the economic and trade sector while continuously expanding into productive fields. Heihe Huaxing Economic and Technical Cooperation Company, which has established a Chinese brand in the Russian Amur Oblast construction market, extends its cooperation with Russia by signing a framework agreement for the joint construction of the Amur Cement Plant.
The vegetable export base project in Aihui District, agricultural development abroad in Xunke County, large-fruited sea buckthorn industrialization project in Sunwu County, fine rubber powder production project using imported waste tires from Russia, wood deep-processing project in Russia by Good Luck Wood Industry Co., Ltd., and others are being expedited in an orderly manner.
Deep Friendship Between People of Both Shores
The multi-level reciprocal visits between Heihe and Blagoveshchensk and the activities held by the two places are increasing day by day, presenting a variety of colorful events, enhancing the friendship between the people. This year alone, overall activities cover political, scientific, educational, humanistic, economic, military, and many other fields.
Events held on the Russian side include the Chinese paper-cutting art exhibition, Sino-Russian Education Friendship Week, Sino-Russian Philatelic Exhibition, Chinese Painting Art Exhibition, and those held in Heihe include the Twin Cities Summer - Sino-Russian International Cultural Festival, Sino-Russian Youth Taekwondo Friendship Match, Sino-Russian Winter Swimming Performance Match, Sino-Russian Youth Snowboard Skiing Performance Match, Sino-Russian Middle School Students Jointly Welcoming the 47th World Meteorological Day, and the Sino-Russian Boundary Representatives Jointly Commemorating the 62nd Anniversary of the Victory of the Anti-Fascist War. There are many reciprocal activities between the two places, covering a wide range of fields, high standards, and unique characteristics.
During the joint celebration of the "March 8" International Women's Day, the number of participants in reciprocal visits doubled to 60 people to meet the needs of friendly exchanges between women in the two places.
In March, a delegation from the Amur Oblast Parliament visited our city, and in August, the Standing Committee of the Municipal People's Congress went to Amur Oblast for work exchange. Both sides expressed that with the "one city in two countries" concept deeply rooted in people's hearts, they will further strengthen cooperation.