GUANGZHOU, September 22. /ITAR-TASS/. Speaker of the Russian Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko, visiting China, invited businesses of the Guangdong Province to cooperate with Russia and called for increasing the trade turnover between the Province and Russia by six-seven times.

“Let us think how to increase the trade turnover of the Province with Russia by six-seven times from the existing 0.77% to at least five percent,” she told a meeting with local businesses. She expressed hope cooperation with Russia will become a major input in building up the trade turnover between Russia and China to $200 billion. “The Guangdong Province is capable of it, and we, on our side, will be supporting it.”

Matviyenko expressed confidence the trade cooperation with the Guangdong Province has big outstanding potential and every opportunity for expanding not only trade, but also for improving its structure.

“Currently, Guangdong is exporting to Russia mostly consumer goods,” she said. “Demand of the Russian economy in mass replacement of outdated equipment, modernisation of the heavy and light industries, energy, and transport will be only growing, and Chinese products, especially with effective credit support from Chinese banking institutions, could take a competitive niche in our market.”

She paid special attention to advanced development of Siberia and the Far East.

“That macro region will become a key point of the Russian economic growth,” she said. The government will allocate funds for the region’s development, including for organisation of infrastructure projects and of favorable conditions for foreign investors. The senator invited the Guangdong Province’s businesses to participate in implementation of projects of the kind.

Matviyenko expressed confidence the Province “will become a locomotive not only for the Chinese economy, but also for the cooperation with Russia.