On January 21, an online meeting of the RAUIE executives and the Pilot Zone of Regional Trade and Economic Cooperation "China-SCO" was held.
During the discussion, the RAUIE members got the opportunity to search for partners in Qingdao for free, as well as to open an office in China on preferential terms. A plan was outlined for joint activities in the field of trade and investment, which will strengthen cooperation between Russia and China within the SCO.
The pilot zone is located in Jiaozhou Administrative District, Qingdao City. Its creation was announced by the President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping in July 2018 and with the support of the Ministry of Commerce of China and the People's Government of Shandong Province, the pilot zone of regional trade and economic cooperation began to function in full.
Why Qingdao?
Qingdao is a coastal city of 10 million, located on the coast of the Yellow Sea, and serves as China's "eastern" window to Japan, Korea and other ASEAN countries. The city's gross domestic product is about 1.2 trillion yuan (13.86 trillion rubles). For comparison, the GRP of the most economically developed city in Russia, Moscow, is about 20 trillion rubles. The coastline of the city stretches for 900 km, and the permanent population exceeds 10 million people.
The SCO pilot zone operates in 5 directions
- International logistics center
- Modern shopping center
- Center for Bilateral Investment Cooperation
- Center for cultural and business exchanges
- Center for Maritime Cooperation
