Bilateral trade, youth exchanges define blossoming China-Russia ties

Thriving bilateral trade and vibrant youth exchanges have become a defining color of the new bilateral win-win cooperation between China and Russia.

At the China-Russia Economic and Trade Cooperation Park in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province, the Baikamen dairy products company is stepping up construction of its new plant.

In two months, the company will import fresh milk from Russia and launch original Russian-style icecream across northeast China.

"We aim to bring authentic natural dairy products of Russia and Belarus into the Chinese market," said Meng Yicheng, general manager of Liaoning Baikamen Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd.

China-Russia cooperation is no longer limited to border provinces. Liaozhong District in Shenyang, once an agricultural hub, has leveraged bilateral trade opportunities to build a new platform for inland China-Russia economic and trade cooperation.

"We offer door-to-door and point-to-point cargo services to Moscow, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Mongolia. On May 11 this year, we also opened TIR routes to Azerbaijan," said Gao Jihui, executive deputy director of Liaozhong Economic Development Zone.

TIR, or Transport International Router, is a customs transit system enabling goods to flow across borders.

"Russian investors pay close attention to transport routes, logistics costs, and financial settlement. Now Harbin Bank and Russia's VTB Bank are providing convenient settlement service," Gao said.

While TIR trucks shuttle between China and Russia, people-to-people exchanges are also thriving.

As the China-Russia Years of Education kicked off, a growing number of Russian students are pursuing studies in China. Twenty-year-old Gainullina Irma from Ufa is wrapping up her 2 plus 2 joint education program.

"Russian students choose to study in China for greater development in their future careers. I think that China and Russia are close friends," said Irma.

The ongoing China-Russia Years of Education program has further boosted two-way student exchanges. A growing number of Russian graduates are thriving in diverse fields.

"Many Russian students educated in China now work in Russia's government, universities and enterprises. They are very popular because they possess solid expertise, can speak both English and Chinese and have a deep understanding of China," said Zhang Yang, a professor at the International Education College of Liaoning University.

Bilateral trade, youth exchanges define blossoming China-Russia ties

China's Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceship blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the country's northwest on Sunday, sending three astronauts to its orbiting space station.

The spaceship, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, lifted off from the launch site at 23:08 Beijing Time (15:08 GMT).

The crew members consist of mission commander Zhu Yangzhu, and fellow astronauts Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying, who is also the first astronaut from China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

In another notable first, one of the crew members is set to undertake a year-long stay aboard the space station, double the usual duration of previous Shenzhou missions.

After entering orbit, the Shenzhou-23 spaceship will perform a fast automated rendezvous and docking with the radial port of the space station core module Tianhe, forming a combination of three modules and three spacecraft.

Shenzhou-23 marks the 40th flight of China's manned spaceflight program and the seventh manned flight mission since the Tiangong space station entered its application and development phase in late 2022.

China launches Shenzhou-23 manned spaceship