BEIJING, June 26. /TASS/. China and Russia should step up cooperation in the field of production as now is the ideal moment for it, He Zhenwei, president of the China Overseas Development Association (CODA), told TASS on Monday.

"It is noteworthy that Sino-Russian cooperation is focused on an increasing number of production sectors," he said. "We favor boosting collaboration in an even greater number of production areas, and moreover think that now is the ideal moment for it," the expert said.

Apart from Russia, China is fostering trade and economic cooperation with other Eurasian countries as well, he noted, pointing out that the China-Central Asia summit took place in Xian, capital of Shaanxi Province in northwestern China, on May 18-19, covering a wide-ranging agenda.

"The People’s Republic of China is gradually enhancing cooperation with Eurasian countries, particularly with Russia and Central Asian nations, as we have witnessed recently," He Zhenwei said. "Despite the fact that the [negative] influence of geopolitical factors is being felt, their impact [on Sino-Russian cooperation] will not be too pronounced," he stressed.

Speaking about the readiness of Chinese enterprises to promote cooperation with Russia amid the challenging international situation, the expert said that Chinese businesses make their own decisions independently. "Chinese companies know how to boost pragmatic cooperation while duly factoring in high-risk situations," he said.

On June 16, Russian Ambassador to Beijing Igor Morgulov said at a forum that Moscow and Beijing should seize upon the favorable opportunities now available in this unique moment to launch joint production projects. In particular, the Russian diplomat noted the advisability of cooperating based on the fast-track development zones, free economic zones and special industrial zones that have been established in Russia, which offer resident enterprises well-developed logistics infrastructure and a wide range of preferential treatment options.