A working meeting was held in Murmansk between the head of the Murmansk Region, Andrey Chibis, and the Consul General of the People's Republic of China in St. Petersburg, Luo Zhanhui. It was also attended by heads of departments of the region, representatives of the consulate and the business community of China. The main issue on the agenda of the meeting was the development of various areas of cooperation.
"I am glad to welcome real, friendly partners to our country in the Murmansk region. We have many topics for cooperation, and there are great prospects in the logistics sector and port infrastructure, taking into account the development of the Northern Sea Route. Over the past five years, the trade turnover between the Murmansk Region and China has grown 7.2 times. These are not just numbers, they are the result of deep integration and the expansion of bilateral cooperation. China ranks second among the region's main foreign trade partners. I would like to note that the International Arctic Forum was recently held in Murmansk. During the plenary session, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin outlined the priorities for the development of the Arctic — the extraction and processing of resources, the creation of mineral resource centers, as well as investments to improve the quality of life of people. Obviously, we have great prospects for cooperation," the governor stressed.
In addition, the Murmansk region is undoubtedly popular with tourists from China. The head of the region stressed that the number of guests from China is growing.
"Dear Andrey Vladimirovich, I would like to thank you for the reception. I heard that the International Arctic Forum was a success. I completely agree with you about the topics of cooperation. Thanks to the leaders of our countries, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Xi Jinping, we have every opportunity for a comprehensive partnership. Our cooperation is developing in almost all areas. In 2024, the Murmansk Region was visited by more than 26 thousand tourists from China. This is five times more than in 2023. We are confident that our partnership relations will be strengthened thanks to a good attitude and mutual trust. In August, the prime ministers of our countries stressed the importance of developing the Arctic and cooperation in this area," Luo Zhanhui said.
Following the meeting, the head of the region emphasized the role of China as a strategic partner, noting that the leaders of our countries work closely together, which creates new opportunities for joint work at the regional level.
"We have discussed several key areas in detail. Considering the development of the Northern Sea Route, this is a huge niche. It can be expressed in building appropriate routes and transportation, developing the construction of new ports using modern technologies. The second task is related to fishing, processing and export to China. We already have this experience. The third aspect concerns industrial projects. We are engaged in lithium mining, other industries are developing, and taking into account gasification, which is supported by President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, new opportunities will open up for us. In addition, we discussed education, student exchange, and joint research in the Arctic. The tourism sector is also extremely important to us. We have a huge number of Chinese guests. The task is to make the service better so that they always feel comfortable here," concluded the governor.
Luo Zhanhui noted that the importance of the meeting lies in the continued commitment to friendly cooperation in all areas.: fishing, transport, logistics.
"We have already reached agreements in the field of student exchange. I am sure that we have great prospects. The Murmansk Region and the Chinese side are constantly paying attention to transport issues, and we have discussed various aspects of this issue. Due to the strategic location of Murmansk, our cooperation will be even better," the Consul General expressed confidence.
/ Ministry of Information Policy of the Murmansk Region /