KHABAROVSK, August 15. /TASS/. The authorities of Russia’s Khabarovsk Region and representatives of China’s Heilongjiang province will expand cooperation in the area of attracting investments as a memorandum of understanding and cooperation between a priority development area in the Russian region and an experimental free trade area in the Chinese province has been signed in Khabarovsk. The document was signed by representatives of the Russian Far East and Arctic Development Corporation and the Chinese province’s Department of Commerce, a TASS correspondent reported.

"There was a substantial pause in cooperation with the Chinese side due to the coronavirus-related restrictions," Deputy Chairman of the Khabarovsk Region’s government, Economic Development Minister of the region Viktor Kalashnikov said. "Restrictions have been lifted by now, and we see that activity has been rising, with the Khabarovsk Region having joined the work on boosting contacts and cooperation. <…> We presented information about the priority development area, while the Chinese partners presented the potential of the free trade area," he noted.

The memorandum outlines the area of cooperation on attracting Chinese investments, as well as on creation of cooperation chains between Chinese and Russian enterprises, Deputy General Director for Investment Projects Support at Russia’s Far East and Arctic Development Corporation Sergey Skaly said.