KAZAN, August 18. /TASS/. Chen Zhigang, Chairman of the St. Petersburg branch of the Chinese Association of Entrepreneurs in Russia and an Honorary Professor at Beijing University, has said in an interview with TASS that Chinese firms are increasingly supplying intermediate goods to Russia, seamlessly integrating into the country's import substitution program. He described this development as marking a new phase of trade and investment cooperation between the two nations.

According to Chen, the partnership between Russia and China has matured into a high-quality stage of development. "Our cooperation is currently undergoing a historic transition, moving toward high-quality growth. We are witnessing a shift towards genuine localization of production within Russia," he explained. Chinese entrepreneurs have actively participated in Russia's import substitution efforts, which have been a national priority since 2014. Today, these efforts have evolved into a comprehensive partnership aligned with Russia’s broader localization policies, he noted during the "Sprouts: Russia and China - Mutually Beneficial Cooperation" forum in Kazan.

Chen also emphasized that Russia has introduced a series of strategic and attractive measures to promote localization. "Chinese companies have keenly understood this trend and are supplying intermediate goods that smoothly integrate into Russia’s import substitution strategy. This represents a significant new stage in our bilateral trade and investment relationship," he added.

TASS serves as the official information partner for the "Sprouts: Russia and China - Mutually Beneficial Cooperation" forum.