BEIJING, March 18. /TASS/. The Chinese society will actively develop the cultural-humanitarian and economic contacts with Crimea this year, Russian Ambassador to China Andrei Denisov said on Monday.
"The Yalta International Economic Forum is annually held in Crimea, and Chinese representatives take part in its operation," he said during the event dedicated to the fifth anniversary of Crimea’s reintegration into Russia that was held at the Russian Embassy in Beijing. "Last year the Chinese Information and Cultural Center was opened at the Crimean Federal University in Yalta. In August this year a group of school students from China will come to the Artek International Children’s Camp, where they will both have rest and study the Russian language."
There are also plans to renew cooperation between Crimea and southern China’s Hainan province in 2019, as well as between such cities as Yalta and Sanya, Sevastopol and Dalian (the Liaoning province in the northeast of the country), and Sudak and Heihe (the Heilongjiang province in the northeast of China), he said. The diplomat affirmed that the Russian Embassy in China will actively contribute to the development of the ties between the peninsula and its Chinese partners.
"Crimea is one of the most attractive Russian regions. The number of tourists visiting it annually grows, which contributes to Crimea’s economic rise and the revival of traditional industries which are well-known beyond the peninsula," Denisov stressed.
Crimea’s interest in China
Head of the Association of Chinese Compatriots in Crimea Ge Zhili noted, for his part, that his organization is ready to inform the local and global society, as well as representatives for international business circles, on the life of this Russian region.
"We are interested in becoming a responsible supplier of a reliable, precise, objective and just information about Crimea that would be interesting for all," he stressed.
Ge Zhili said that the association which he heads will spread information, in particular provide consultative services to Chinese independent entrepreneurs who plan to cooperate with Crimea in the sphere of tourism and agriculture and are ready for active partnership and cooperation with the peninsula.
"I visited the peninsula several dozens of times over the last five years, and I can say on the basis of the received experience: the answers to questions like ‘How do things actually stand in Crimea?’ and ‘What is Crimea’s future?’ will be positive," he concluded.