Partnerships From A Fair Perspective
Northeast China grows trade ties with neighbors for regional development By Ma Li
Nikolai Chen is a Russian farmer who raises an unusual livestock—wood frogs, the brown or pink variety that lives in moist woodlands and is used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).
The 43- year- old made his way to Changchun, capital of northeast China’s Jilin Province, which sits near the boundary with Russia, to explore the 11th China-Northeast Asia Expo and see if he could find any buyers for his frogs.
“We breed wood frogs which are highly sought after by Chinese buyers, as green and natural food becomes a craze with more and more Chinese,” Chen told Beijing Review. “China is a market with huge potential.”
Ties with Russia
The breeding farms are located in Primorsky Krai in Russia’s Far East, near the border with China, where Chen said the natural conditions are pristine without any pollution. “We let the seedlings go to broadleaf forests, swampland or shrubs by the lakeside. The clean environment ensures the quality of our wood frog products,” he said.
Chen has visited northeast China several times in recent years to better know the Chinese market and seek business opportunities. The idea came to him after learning that Oviductus Ranae, a TCM derived from wood frogs, is popular for alleviating high blood pressure and cerebral thrombosis.
“China needs high-quality wood frogs,” he said. “To get big orders we need to breed more seedlings. The breeding areas will then be expanded to ensure the survival of wood frogs.”
In two days during the expo, which was held from September 1 to 5, the farmer got two orders worth nearly 10 million yuan ($1.53 million).
China became Russia’s biggest trading partner in 2010. According to figures from the General Administration of Customs, in 2016, trade between China and Russia grew by 2.2 percent over 2015 to reach $ 69.5 billion. In the first seven months this year, the bilateral trade totaled $46.8 billion, up by 21.8 percent.
Over 230 partnership projects have been set up between local governments in China and Russia, and of the 15 cross-border economic zones in China, four are in cooperation with Russia.
Northeast China contributes handsomely to this trade volume. Chen’s farms, located in Russia, show the interdependence of both. The five-day expo is also good way to boost this trade.
“China welcomes enterprises from all over the world to share the development opportunities in the country,” Vice Premier Wang Yang said in his keynote speech at the inauguration of the fair. “China has benefited a lot from opening up and will continue to do so.”