Russia-China twin cities to build tourism sector (2011/06/18)

HARBIN -- A city in northeast Heilongjiang Province and Russia's Province of Amur are planning to build a large cross-border tourism center, said an authority with Amur on Friday, June 17 in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang.

"We should provide better tourism products to serve for the booming tourism need in Chinese market and surging tourists," said Igor Gorevoi, an official who is supervising the economic relations between China and the Russian province.

Gorevoi made the remarks while attending the China Harbin International Economic and Trade Fair (HTF), a five-day event which kicked off on Tuesday.

Heilongjiang's Heihe City and Amur's capital Blagoveshchensk are referred to as the "twin cities" in the region, and they have reached an agreement to attract tourists in both countries by building facilities such as hotels, shopping malls and entertainment parks, he said.

Moreover, the two cities will also exhibit tourism products with local characteristics, such as rare dinosaur fossils, aviation models and aerospace facilities.

"We have excavated dinosaurs fossils over a 25-year period, but few envisioned it as a tourism project, yet with the mutual effort of both cities, we will explore more tourism attractions with unique features," Gorevoi added.

In his view, the "twin cities" are not competitors but a community with common interests.

Based on the development plan, Heihe will also improve its tourism facilities and projects in volcanic scene, hot spring convalescent and luxury cruise ship travel, said Liu Qinghai, director of the tourism bureau of Heihe.

Heihe and Blagoveshchensk are the two closest cities on the border separated by the Amur River (Heilong River in Chinese).

(Xinhua)