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New Deal Sees Chinese Companies Relocating to Russian Far East

China is set to move a number of its enterprises to the Russian Far East, Russia's Ministry for the Development of the Far East said in a statement on Tuesday.

The possibility of relocating certain Chinese enterprises was discussed during the recent visit of the ministry's head Alexandr Galushka to Beijing, according to the statement published Tuesday.

China proposed relocating enterprises in 12 key sectors of economy, including metallurgy, power engineering, machinery, shipbuilding, chemical industry, textile industry, cement industry, telecommunications and agriculture.

The enterprises will be transferred in compliance with Russian environmental regulations, the statement said.

The Russian side welcomed the Chinese initiative. “We are ready to accept Chinese enterprises and establish joint export-oriented production on the territory of the Far East,” ministry representative Rustam Makarov was quoted as saying in the statement.

Russia started to increase its cooperation with China after Western countries imposed sanctions on Moscow over its involvement in the Ukraine conflict.

At the end of 2015, the Chinese company Sinopec bought a 10 percent stake in the Russian petrochemical company Sibur and a consortium of Chinese investors purchased a 13.3 percent share in the Bystrinsky gold and copper project of mining company Norilsk Nickel.

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