Harbin to build a Sino-Russian trade street in May

A MILE-LONG street devoted to Sino-Russian trade will be completed in May at northeast China's northern city of Harbin and open for business in June, Xinhua reports.


Traditionally, the Russian trading colony based on railway building more than 100 years ago, Harbin has now opened a Russian Export Processing Zone, next to the new CNY50 million (US$7.6 million) Harbin Railway Container Terminal, which will serve as hub for the trade with Russia.


After opening in June, the street will showcase a cluster of trading companies and logistics providers, offering distribution, warehousing and other services.


Harbin was an important fashion centre 100 years ago when Paris and Moscow clothing came there first by rail long before reaching Shanghai and Hong Kong by ship, says Wikipedia.


Harbin is the capital city of Heilongjiang province, long a centre of Sino-Russian trade with its 3,000 kilometre-border with Russia. It achieved a Russian trade value of US$7.5 billion last year, taking up 14 per cent of China's total.


Today, a city of 9.8 million, Harbin was no more than 70,000 in 1913, when the China Eastern Railway was built under Russian direction and first generation of Harbin Russians were railway workers.


"The city was almost built from scratch by the railway builders and early settlers," says the Wikipedia entry. "Houses were constructed, furniture and personal items were brought in from Russia. By 1913, Harbin had become an established Russian cultural colony for the construction and maintenance work on the China Eastern Railway."
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)