BEIJING, June 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and China signed investment agreements for the sum of over $2 billion since June 2004, said Yelena Danilova, a representative of the Russian Economic Development and Trade Ministry.Danilova, the director of the ministry's macroeconomic department, heads the Russian delegation at the international trade and economic fair in Harbin, China's northwest (June 14-19).
According to Danilova, 19 agreements (10 trade and 9 investment agreements) worth $840 million were signed in Harbin. Investment agreement account for $572 million, she added.
Seven investment agreements worth $1.5 billion were signed at the 2nd Russian-Chinese investment forum in St. Petersburg in June 2005 (as compared to $750 million investment agreements concluded at the 1st forum in Khabarovsk in 2004), the Russian chief delegate said.
Accordingly, bilateral investment agreements for the total sum of over $2 billion were signed over the last year, she added.
A number of agreements to attract Chinese investments to Russia were signed in Harbin, including projects on the development of oil fields in Tyumen (Siberia) worth $120 million and coal fields on Sakhalin ($39 million) and assembling of Chinese off-roads and pickups in the Kaliningrad region ($170 million).
The Chinese corporation TCL is to assemble TV sets and household utilities in Russia, Danilova said. Investment in this project total $180 million.
"The Chinese side understands that we need investments in processing and advanced processing," she said adding that China's growing economy needed raw materials.
Russia, in turn, is interested in investments in advanced processing and is ready to cooperate with China on third-country markets, Danilova said.
June 16 was Russia's Day at the Harbin fair. It was organized by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and Russian Economic Development and Trade Ministry.
