Rais of Tatarstan meets Vice-Mayor of the Chinese City of Shenzhen

On 15 November, during the visit of a delegation from the republic to the China HI-TECH Fair, the Rais (Head) of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov had a meeting with the Vice-Mayor of Shenzhen Wang Shourui. 

In his greeting speech, Rustam Minnikhanov said: “During the last years Russia-China relations have achieved an unprecedented level. Our cooperation is an example of how inter-state relations should be built in the modern world.” 

He emphasized that the trade turnover between Tatarstan and China shows a stable growth, having increased by 58 per cent last year and exceeding 1.6bn dollars, and added that mutual trade continues to grow and in the first six months of 2023 the number has come close to 1.5bn dollars. 

Sharing his impressions, the Rais of Tatarstan said: “I am impressed by the scale of work done in Shenzhen. Kazan and Shenzhen have been twin cities since 2012 and in 2013 the capital of Tatarstan took up the baton from your city and hosted the Universiade in 2013.” 

He reminded about the first Russia-China large business forum “ROSTKI” held in Kazan in the current year, having emphasized that the objective of it is to expand business contacts with China, and invited a delegation from Shenzhen to come to the next forum. 

Welcoming the delegation, the Vice-Mayor of Shenzhen said in his turn that Tatarstan is a long-term good friend of China. “Thank you so much for participating in the China HI-TECH Fair. I am sure that due to such strong basis of our cooperation we will deepen our relations”, Wang Shourui emphasized. 

Currently the population of Shenzhen is 21 million people and it is the second largest city in the southern part of China, the first special economic zone, the fourth container port in the world and the center of Chinese electronic industry.

“Today relations between Russia and China have reached a new level and it is important for us to interact with cities of Russia,” the Vice-Mayor said and concluded: “Tatarstan is a remarkable region. Your republic is reach in natural resources and there is close friendship between our regions. I am sure a good cooperation lies ahead of us and your visit will facilitate it.”