Perhaps a rare Primorye resident, but what a Primorye resident - a rare Far Easterner has not been to the Chinese border city of Suifenhe, known as the most fertile place for shopping tours. This city is also a starting point for longer tourist routes - to Harbin, Shenyang, Anshan, Dalian.
But if “transiters” have practically no time to get to know the city better, then the bulk of tourists who stay for two or three days do not even try to do this, focusing all their attention on the two main “shopping” streets. But in vain. After all, Suifenhe lives not only by trade.
The K correspondent had a rare chance to ask about him Head of the Secretariat of the People's Congress of Suifenhe Liu Jun Wen.
Mr. Liu, your city is quite young, but over the course of several decades it has turned from a small border settlement into a modern center of one of the counties of Mudanjiang County with developed infrastructure. How many people live here now, are there many Russians among them?
Suifenhe received city status in 1975. Today its population, including visitors, is about 120 thousand people. The maximum reached several years ago, when we received two thousand tourists a day every day, was 200 thousand people. Unfortunately, due to fluctuations in the exchange rate of the ruble relative to our national currency, as well as the emergence of online stores, fewer Russians are now coming to us.
Some open their own business with us, others buy apartments and stay there. There are a dozen and a half mixed families - Chinese guys who married Russian girls. International marriages are not uncommon.
You recently built a new train station for high-speed trains. When will the first such train set off and how much closer will other Chinese cities become to Suifenhe?
Now the railway service in our country is being united into a single network. So, having reached Harbin by high-speed train from us, and not in 7 hours, as before, but in only 2.5, it will be possible to transfer to another one and go to Shanghai, Beijing, and so on. Starting on December 26, when the ceremonial departure of the first high-speed train on the Suifenhe - Harbin route takes place, travel time will be significantly reduced. As I already said, we will travel only 2.5 hours to Harbin, 6 to Shenyang, 7 to Dalian. I invite the correspondents of your newspaper to become the first passengers on this train.
Mr. Liu, there is an electronic encyclopedia on the Internet, the Russian version of which is called Wikipedia. From it I learned that an airport was being built in Suifenhe. This is true?
Yes, 30 kilometers from the city. The work is in full swing. The project's completion date is 2023.
- What sights would you advise visitors to see?
In the summer, we have a very developed so-called red tourism, which involves visiting memorable places associated with the history of the Communist Party, the life of its leaders and the revolutionary past.
We are proud of the exploits of the soldiers of the 88th separate rifle brigade of the Far Eastern Front, which included soldiers from China and the Soviet Union shoulder to shoulder against the Japanese invaders. One of the main tasks of this formation of only four thousand people was reconnaissance. By the summer of 1945, they studied the situation in the provinces of Heilongjiang and Jilin, the structure of Japanese fortified areas, the locations of headquarters and ammunition depots, the number of troops, etc. The Soviet command used this valuable information to plan and conduct combat operations with the Japanese Kwantung Army. Many soldiers of the 88th brigade died. In memory of their feat, we are going to build a park. Another folk heroine is Galina Dubeeva (Galya Zhang), a military translator who was killed by the Japanese on August 11, 1945. In 2009, residents of our city erected a monument to her and named one of the streets in her honor.
We also have a museum of the 6th Congress of the Communist Party of China, which took place from June 18 to July 11, 1928 in the Soviet Union, but all delegates went to Moscow through Suifenhe.
In winter, tourists will be interested in the ski resort, located 15 km from the city. Many people like our LanYan ecological garden and the Guangming temple and monastery complex, where large-scale restoration work is currently underway. During the warm season, in Beihai Park, on the lake, a light and music fountain operates for an hour from 19.00.
We all know that Suifenhe is an outpost of Russian-Chinese trade in Primorye, but do you have any industrial enterprises or factories?
Certainly. In addition to three special zones: comprehensive duty-free, cross-border technical and economic cooperation and cross-border economic cooperation (the latter created in 1992), which make up about 10% of the total volume of Russian-Chinese cross-border trade, we are also developing our own production facilities.
Mainly processing companies, we produce furniture, animal feed, and soybean oil (from Russian raw materials) at our factories. We have a forestry company that imports wood from Russia, processes it and processes it, including deep processing - fuel briquettes are made here from production waste. The products of our brewery are also in demand.
- Since ancient times, the Celestial Empire was considered an agricultural country, now are local residents engaged in crop production?
Very small areas are allocated for crops and fruit orchards, but sufficient to provide themselves with vegetables and fruits. But farmers grow woody black mushrooms primarily for sale.
- How many kindergartens, schools, hospitals are there in your city?
Two public gardens and more than ten private ones. There are five elementary schools, four middle schools and two high schools, with about 20 thousand children studying there. We have five hospitals, the largest is the People's Hospital, it is well equipped, staffed by doctors of various specializations, high-class professionals. In addition, each of the 10 city districts has its own points for the provision of medical services (analogous to Russian clinics - author's note), where people go if they have a slight malaise. And in serious cases they go to the hospital.
- Are there streets with Russian names in Suifenhe?
Yes, Ussuriysky Avenue. It stretches between the Behai Park and the Guangming Monastery, and is named so because it is a direct road to the customs crossing and the sister city of Ussuriysk. The ties between our cities are long-standing and growing stronger year by year. We are glad to see Russians visiting us and say to everyone: “Welcome!”
Suifenhe(绥芬河; Suífēnhé) is a village in Heilongjiang Province. Located on the border with Russia, it is a kind of checkpoint from China to Vladivostok. Every year, a lot of Russians living in Primorye and Khabarovsk Territory go to Suifenhe for shopping and for a little relaxation. If you also want to go there, then this article will help you get a little comfortable.
Briefly about Suifenhe
The weather in Suifenhe is characterized by warm summers and very cold winters. This is explained by the fact that the village is located on a hill. The thermometer from December to January does not rise above -15°C.
Suifenhe on the world map and China:
The main language is Mandarin Chinese. In the village you can meet many Russian speakers. There are practically no English speakers.
You can get to Suifenhe by daily buses from Harbin, minibuses from Mudanjiang, as well as trains, including a train that runs through Suifenhe to Vladivostok twice a week. The journey on this train takes approximately 8 hours and tickets can be booked several weeks in advance.
From the Russian side, buses and trains cross the border (about 20 km of neutral zone), heading to Ussuriysk (4-hour trip). Trains have their wheels changed when crossing the border, which takes some time.
By bus
The bus station, which is located directly opposite the train station, serves domestic routes only. The international bus station from which buses depart to Vladivostok is located in a different location. You can get there by taxi, which, depending on your bargaining ability, will cost 10-20 yuan. The last bus to Russia leaves in the afternoon, so the terminal will be closed from approximately 16:00. Tickets can be purchased on the morning of departure.
The terminal may look like a shop covered with corrugated iron bars, but don't let that fool you - buses depart from the inside of the large building.
Not all buses go directly to Vladivostok, so you may need to change trains in Russia.
If you're lucky, you might get a lift from Russians who are returning from shopping and have parked their cars on the other side of the border.
If there are no problems with documents, crossing the border will take you no more than 5-10 minutes. Customs officers at the Chinese border speak fluent English and are often surprised to see a non-Chinese or Russian passport.
When crossing the border, do not leave your belongings on the bus - they will be thoroughly searched. Be prepared to wait while other buses or cars are checked.
By train
The night train from Harbin (Walk 4) departs at 20:30 and arrives at 7:00. Bed with air conditioning costs 77 yuan.
Next to the place from which the trains depart, there is a building with a large sign in Cyrillic at the top.
The train departs towards the Pogranichny stop in Russia (44°24′N, 131°23′E) (GeCheng in Chinese) at 9:00. The Border Train arrives at 11:00 (14:00 Russian time). The trip will cost you 130 yuan (15 yuan for the white ticket that will be collected from you, plus the cost of the ticket).
The price often changes, which may seem suspicious to those who often travel this route.
Chinese border crossings open at approximately 8:30 am. The majority of people using this route are those who regularly travel to China to buy goods.
Try to get an entry card while still in Russia on the train, as the line of merchants when going through customs is intimidating (more than 40 minutes).
After leaving the station, be sure to set your watch forward three hours. To get to the bus station, cross the railway tracks along the steps on the left. The bus to Vladivostok leaves at 15:55 (12:55 Chinese time).
The trip from Pogranichny, including clearing customs and purchasing bus tickets (about 2 hours in total), takes approximately 4 hours.
The trip from Harbin to Vladivostok using this route by train and bus took me less than 21 hours. The train journey through the countryside was incredible!
Shopping in Suifenhe
You can pay for purchases in yuan and rubles. ATMs are located mainly in the main square and accept VISA and MasterCard cards. Some require a six-digit PIN. If you get one, try entering two zeros before the four-digit PIN code of your card.
It is possible to exchange dollars, but it will take time (you will need a copy of your passport, which can be done on the spot for free).
As in all border towns, you can find a wide range of different goods here.
Restaurants in Suifenhe
Once you go up the stairs in front of the train station and turn left in front of the bus station, you will find a street with a lot of restaurants.
- Breakfast Buffet Place. A crowded restaurant with tables filled with food served buffet style. A large selection of Chinese pies, breaded and deep-fried, soups, Chinese salads, egg dishes. Everything is very tasty and cheap. A couple of pies, a cup of soup and a plate of salad will cost 4-5 yuan. Bring your food to your table and the waitress will come and check you out.
- California Beef Noodle King. Chinese restaurant chain.
Hotels in Suifenhe
Hotel Shun Feng Hotel: address 电力街68号 (68 Electric Street), next to Fen River City. Located in the center of Suifenhe, near Beihai Park and very close to the museum and swimming pool. The hotel opened on September 9, 2007 and was reconstructed in 2009. A total of 54 rooms.
Room prices from 128 yuan. The hotel only accepts cash advance payments. Both Russians and the Chinese themselves speak well of him. Breakfast is included in the price, the Internet is not very stable, but it is also available. For a room with a desktop computer and internet you will be charged 148 yuan. An extra bed can be added for an additional daily fee of RMB 50.
When checking into the Shun Feng Hotel, you can exchange currency, leave valuables at the front desk, or use an ATM. Laundry services, a beauty salon and a business center are also available. There is a restaurant in the hotel building for 400 people.
Suifenhe
The Suifenhe checkpoint is located in the northeast of Heilongjiang Province. As already mentioned, one of the two railway lines connecting China with Russia passes through it. This railway is the main route from the PRC to the Russian Far East, which has rich forest resources. Currently, a passenger railway connection has been established between the city of Harbin (the administrative center of Heilongjiang Province) and the city. Khabarovsk and Vladivostok, the route of which passes through the city of Suifenhe.
In Suifenhe, since 1998, there have been two customs houses of class 2, one serving rail transport, and the other serving road transport. Despite the proximity of these two customs offices to each other, the customs authorities decided to separate them on a functional basis in order to more accurately identify cargo flows passing along railway and highway routes.
Heihe
Heihe is also an important checkpoint on the Russian-Chinese border, located approximately in the middle of the Heilongjiang section of the border. Cross-border trade at this point is very active, despite the lack of railway connections. Since 1999, a Russian-Chinese timber market has been operating in Heihe, promoting the development of trade in this area. Occupying an area of 17 hectares, this timber market is the largest along the four thousand kilometer border between China and the Russian Federation. In recent years, the volume of deliveries through this checkpoint has also increased significantly - from 1,923 m 3 in 1996 to 98,675 m 3 in 1999. This check point is not yet large in terms of absolute volume of traffic, but has great growth potential.
Hunchun
The city of Hunchun is located on a section of the Russian-Chinese border passing through the territory of Jilin (Girin) province. China at this point borders the southernmost corner of the Russian Far East. Trade in timber and other goods is not very active here, partly due to the remoteness, partly due to poor transport opportunities (lack of railway connections). Hunchun Customs has the rank of 2nd class and is subordinate to the 1st class customs in Changchun (the capital of Jilin Province). Data on imports of Russian timber through Hunchun customs are included in the statistics of the provincial customs department, after which they are reported to Beijing.
Erlian
Erlian is one of the main checkpoints, the only one on the border between the PRC and the Republic of Mongolia, located near the middle of the border with Mongolia, passing through the ARVM. The only railway connecting these two countries runs here. Another Moscow-Beijing passenger train passing through the territory of Mongolia crosses the border here. Erlian is an important point through which indirect trade takes place between China and Russia. In this capacity, Erlian ranks third among checkpoints in terms of volumes of supplies of Russian timber. According to international practice, the statistics of import operations indicate the country of origin, therefore, despite the fact that the purchased timber passes through Mongolia, it is still counted as Russian. There is a 2nd class customs office in Erlian, subordinate to the 1st class customs office in Hohhot, the administrative center of ARVM. In total, there are two 2nd class customs houses under the management of the Hohhot customs - in Erliang and Baotou. The latter is a small customs office located away from the border.
It should be noted that according to information received in a telephone conversation from a Hohhot customs officer, 100% of the timber trade data relates to the Erlian border crossing point, since this is the only crossing point on the border with Mongolia. From statistical data it follows that Erlian ranks third in terms of the amount of Russian forest that passes through after the cities of Manchuria and Suifenhe. In 1999, 21.7% of the total volume of timber purchased in Russia was imported through this checkpoint (and in total the three largest checkpoints pass more than 90%).
Alashankou
Alashankou is an important checkpoint on the border between China and Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic. It is located in the north of China's northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). The railway connecting the two countries passes through Alashankou. Alashankou customs is classified as class 2 and is under the control of the customs of Urumqi, the capital of XUAR. In total, the Urumqi 1st Class Customs Office operates ten 2nd Class Customs Offices, mainly located along the Chinese border with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Indirect trade with Russia is carried out through Alashankou.
Other small checkpoints in the province. Heilongjiang
In addition to the four checkpoints mentioned above, through which direct and indirect deliveries are carried out, there are ten other, smaller checkpoints and second-class customs offices through which Russian timber is imported. All of them are located in Heilongjiang Province.
Based on the import volumes and species distribution of wood in 1999, these checkpoints can be divided into three groups. The first group will include the only checkpoint (Fuyuan), through which a relatively large amount of coniferous timber was imported from Russia only in 1999. The second group (Tongjiang, Dongning, Hulin and Fujin) - checkpoints through which more than a thousand cubic meters were delivered per year in the period 1995-99. The third group includes five checkpoints (Lobei, Zhaohe, Mishan, Jiayin and Xunke), through which very small shipments of timber were imported in 1999, not exceeding a thousand cubic meters. These checkpoints, except for Mishan, began working with Russian forests in 1998. Through Xunke and Jiayin, located in the northern part of Heilongjiang, mainly coniferous species are imported, and through the remaining checkpoints of this group - mainly hardwood round timber.
On April 27, the State Council's Approval of the Plan for Establishing the Suifenhe-Dongning Priority Experimental Development and Opening-Up Zone of Heilongjiang Province was published (Document Number Guohan (2016) No. 70). According to this document, the creation of this zone is expected; the project implementation plan will be developed by the State Committee for Development and Reforms.
According to Chang Xiujie, a researcher at the Institute of Macroeconomics of the State Council for Development and Reform Affairs, the Suifenhe-Dongning experimental development and opening-up zone, located on the China-Russia border, in addition to cross-border economic cooperation, will greatly stimulate the development of bilateral trade. “As for the details of further development, everything depends on the construction of the facilities.”
Before this, the Border Economic Cooperation Zone had already been established in Suifenhe. Nowadays, timber processing and e-commerce industries are developing there. In the future, the specific plan of the experimental zone will be finalized.
According to the correspondent of the newspaper "Economy of the 21st Century", the creation of many similar experimental zones across the country has now been confirmed, in particular, Dongxing in Guangxi Province, Menla (Mohan) and Ruili in Yunnan Province, Erlianhot in Inner Mongolia, Manchuria, etc.
Stimulating Chinese-Russian trade
The border with the Russian Far East stretches along the eastern part of Heilongjiang Province; in the southern part of this border area towards Jilin Province there is the Suifenhe-Dongning zone. This area is considered an important transport hub for the international corridor in Northeast Asia and an important window of China's openness to Russia. Not far from here is the famous port city of Vladivostok.
In this regard, the construction of the experimental zone here is due to the advantages of the location. According to the State Council, the construction of the pilot zone should open up the strategic opportunities of Belt and Road construction, fully unleash the comprehensive advantages of Northeast Asia's openness and cooperation, so that the pilot zone will become an important platform for China-Russia strategic cooperation and open cooperation in Northeast Asia. This zone should become a comprehensive communication hub and an important point of economic growth in the border areas, as well as a pilot zone for good neighborliness. This will allow us to accumulate valuable experience that will be useful in the future during the exploration and development of border areas.
Approval requires careful planning for the construction of the experimental zone and the development of a special program. It states that it is necessary to identify the rules, optimize the geological location, protect the ecological environment, save and rationally use resources.
Currently, the Suifenhe Border Economic Cooperation Zone already hosts facilities in the e-commerce, forestry, food and textile industries. In the future, when the pilot zone is built throughout Suifenhe, bilateral investment and trade turnover is expected to further increase.
According to Wang Ke, head of the Suifenhe City Development and Reform Committee, the construction of the experimental development and opening-up zone is different from the previous construction of the Suifenhe Border Economic Cooperation Zone. The cooperation zone, in fact, only covers the area, the experimental zone covers Suifenhe city and Dongning city, since Dongning is subordinate to Mudanjiang city, in the future it is expected to create a high-level coordination body focused on maintaining the functioning of the Suifenhe-Dongning zone, perhaps it will be a Management Committee.
The creation of an experimental zone allows for further development of the infrastructure of this area. “A railway will be built between Suifenhe and Dongning. Further approvals still need to be made for connections with Russia.”
You can be sure that this pilot zone will greatly stimulate the bilateral development of trade between China and Russia. Currently, in Suifenhe you can make transactions in rubles, there are duty-free shops, although there are still few of them. Against the backdrop of a sharp devaluation of the ruble last year, the Chinese began to switch to purchasing duty-free Russian goods in yuan.
In addition, the possibility of assigning the Suifenhe-Dongning Experimental Zone the status of a free trade zone as a duty-free zone between China and Russia is also being considered. According to the correspondent of the newspaper "Economy of the 21st Century", the possibility of developing Chinese-Mongolian electronic commerce in the experimental development and openness zone in Erlianhot is also now being considered.
According to Sun Kui, director of the Institute for the Study of Chinese-Russian Regional Economics of Heilongjiang Province, cooperation between Suifenhe and Vladivostok makes it possible to create a cross-border duty-free corridor and a free port.
Search for bilateral trade cooperation
As Yu Guangjun, rector of the Institute of Economic Research of the Inner Mongolia Academy of Social Sciences, said, the experimental development and opening-up zone is aimed at neighboring countries. It is seen as an outpost for exploring the possibility of concluding a free trade agreement within the framework of international trade with neighboring countries, that is, along the lines of free bilateral trade between China and Australia. The Erlianhota Experimental Zone of Inner Mongolia is established based on the joint construction of a cross-border cooperation park with Mongolia, the development of border trade and infrastructure facilities to maintain contacts with Mongolia.
“The experimental zone bears the responsibility for conducting experiments, and what will come of it will become clear after the experiment,” he noted.
Previously, the document “Regulations of the State Council on Certain Policy Measures for Maintaining the Development and Opening Up of Important Border Areas” (Legislation (2015) No. 72) stated that the important experimental development and opening up zones will create important platforms for China to deepen cooperation with neighboring countries and areas.
These regions should strengthen the openness of border checkpoints in every possible way and increase the level of simplification of processing trade transactions. It is necessary to update the model of control and supervision at the checkpoint, transfer those operations that are considered not necessary during the transition of the checkpoint by introducing management and providing relevant services and subsequent inspections by the competent authorities, etc.
In addition, it is necessary to increase the level of simplification of transactions during investment, expand the scope of investment taking into account generally accepted international rules, and support border areas that have the necessary conditions. They should take into account and repeat the experience of Shanghai in creating and operating an experimental free trade zone, and experimentally introduce the “accessible civil rights and restrictions” model of foreign investment management.
In addition, facilitation of procedures during face-to-face exchanges should be promoted. It is necessary to provide employees of important investment sites with an optimized registration system for entry and exit, and allocate a green corridor for the entry of personnel involved in state-level cooperation projects. It is necessary to facilitate the simplification of transportation procedures, for example, to promote the process of mutual recognition of cross-border transport licenses, which will affect the optimization of formalities and increase guarantees for the passage of vehicles involved in cross-border transport.
It has become known that at the moment, China and its neighboring countries and regions have created many important experimental development and opening-up zones. According to experts, approval of new experimental zones is expected. The purpose of their creation now is to provide each border province with such a zone in the future.
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As an experiment, based on the decision of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, Suifenhe became the first platform in the People's Republic of China for implementing the free circulation of foreign currency on an equal basis with the national one, which will allow for the free storage of funds and their withdrawal from the account, payment for services and goods in Russian rubles.
Population
More than 60,000 people live in the city district (another more than 100 thousand visitors).
Trade with Russia
Suifenhe is the largest crossing between Russia and China in Heilongjiang Province. Among the major crossings of Heilongjiang, Suifenhe has an absolute advantage in terms of export and import volume. The share of trade with Russia at the Suifenhe crossing is almost a quarter of the trade volume of the entire Heilongjiang Province.
History of trade development in Suifenhe
- 1899 - Suifenhe crossing was formed.
- July 1903 - direct communication between Suifenhe and Manchuria opened.
- 1992 - Officially recognized by the People's Republic of China as the first open border city.
- January 1994 - received the status of International bilateral cargo-passenger crossing.
- June 1999 - an agreement was signed between the governments of Russia and the People's Republic of China on the creation of the Suifenhe-Pogranichny shopping complex.
- January 16, 2000 - official opening of the automobile crossing.
- 2001 - Suifenhe city was approved by the State Forestry Administration, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of the People's Republic of China, and the General Administration of Customs as the only border crossing in Heilongjiang Province intended for the import of round timber, its processing and export of lumber.
- December 2013 - by decision of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, it became the first city in China where the Russian ruble is used for payments, along with the national currency.
Railway crossing Suifenhe-Grodekovo
The only railway crossing with Russia in Heilongjiang Province connects the Manchuria-Suifenhe Railway and the Far Eastern Railway of Russia. There are also two internal railway lines leading to the northeastern regions: Harbin-Suifenhe and Binzhou. The total capacity of the railway crossing is 10 million tons of cargo, and passenger traffic is 1 million people. per year.
Suifenhe-Border Road Crossing
The Suifenhe automobile crossing is located in the eastern part of Heilongjiang, bordering the Primorsky Territory of Russia, the corresponding automobile crossing on the Russian border is Pogranichny.
External highways: Suifenhe-Pogranichny, Suifenhe-Ussuriysk, Suifenhe-Vladivostok. Domestic: 301 National Highway, Suifenhe-Manzhouli Expressway. Connects 4 major cities of Heilongjiang province - Harbin, Qiqihar, Mudanjiang, Daqing. The crossing is open 12 hours a day.
The total annual throughput is 12 million tons, passenger traffic reaches 1.6 million people.
Currently, the transport infrastructure of Suifenhe is undergoing another modernization, in which the Chinese government has invested 1 billion yuan. By 2018, an international center for multimodal passenger transportation - by road and rail - will be built here.
Airport
It is planned to build an airport that will be able to annually serve up to 450 thousand passengers, as well as have an annual turnover of 3.6 thousand tons of cargo.
Timber import to Suifenhe
Suifenhe Crossing is the only crossing in Heilongjiang Province approved by the State Forestry Administration, the Ministry of Commerce, and the General Administration of Customs for the import of round timber, its processing, and the re-export of lumber.
With the beginning of the implementation of the state policy of “greening” in 1998 (reducing and regulating deforestation in China), Suifenhe began to import almost 1/4 of the total volume of Russian timber imported into the Middle Kingdom.
Thanks to this, it gained fame as the capital of the wood processing industry of China. Today, Suifenhe is the largest gathering and distribution center for timber imports on the northern Chinese mainland. Mostly unprocessed wood and sawn timber are imported. Priority species: spruce, larch, pine, linden, birch, oak.
Volumes of timber imports from Russia via Suifenhe
The dynamics of the import of roundwood and lumber from Russia through the Suifenhe crossing corresponds to the general situation in the Chinese timber import market. The share of sawlogs exported to China through Suifenhe during 2005-2015 did not go beyond the corridor of 20-30% of the total volume imported to China from Russia.
The maximum volume of roundwood imports through Suifenhe was recorded in the so-called. “golden years” - in 2006, 2007 and 2008 it was 6.65, 7.02 and 6.38 million m³, respectively.
After Russia increased export duties on unprocessed wood, its import to China, including through Suifenhe, began to decline, although the results of 2014 showed positive dynamics.
So in 2012 and 2013, 3.5 and 3.6 million m³ were imported through this crossing, respectively, and in 2014 - 4.4 million m³ (+18%). The share of Russian lumber exports through Suifenhe shows stable positive dynamics and impressive growth rates, both in relative and in physical terms.
In 2008, only 49 thousand m³ of lumber was imported through Suifenhe, which accounted for 2.5% of all lumber imported into China from Russia that year. Just 5 years later, this figure increased in physical terms to 1.09 million m³ (by 2224%), which amounted to 22% of all lumber imports from Russia to China (+880%). Thus, the growth rate of lumber exports through Suifenhe significantly exceeded that of the entire country.
Timber market in Suifenhe
Timber processing enterprises are an integral part of Suifenhe's economy, both in terms of tax revenue for the city budget and in terms of job creation.
In order to reduce logistics costs, many Chinese wood processing enterprises located in the center of the country are moving their production sites to Suifenhe, creating a new production infrastructure.
Of the timber imported through the Suifenhe crossing, about 40% remains for processing in the city, the rest of the timber is sent by rail to the interior regions of the country.
The territory of the industrial park, with an area of 4.37 km², organized in Suifenhe, is designed for more than 420 enterprises. Currently, there are 300 large and small wood processing enterprises located here, almost 70% of which are engaged in primary wood processing. Their total production capacity is more than 4,500 thousand m³.
About 55% of Suifenhe enterprises have created joint projects with Russian companies for the development and use of forest resources in Russia. Of these, 57% of enterprises process wood, and only 5.7% of enterprises are directly involved in cutting down roundwood without further processing.
In the context of restrictions on the export of round timber by Russia, many private processing enterprises in Suifenhe are moving their activities abroad and organizing wood processing there.
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Notes
Excerpt characterizing Suifenhe
I also think that fate brought my parents together for a reason. Because it seemed absolutely impossible for them to meet...My dad was born in Siberia, in the distant city of Kurgan. Siberia was not the original place of residence of my father's family. This was the decision of the then “fair” Soviet government and, as has always been accepted, was not subject to discussion...
So, my real grandparents, one fine morning, were rudely escorted from their beloved and very beautiful, huge family estate, cut off from their usual life, and put into a completely creepy, dirty and cold carriage, heading in a frightening direction - Siberia...
Everything that I will talk about further was collected by me bit by bit from the memories and letters of our relatives in France, England, as well as from the stories and memories of my relatives and friends in Russia and Lithuania.
To my great regret, I was able to do this only after my father’s death, many, many years later...
Grandfather’s sister Alexandra Obolensky (later Alexis Obolensky) and Vasily and Anna Seryogin, who voluntarily went, were also exiled with them, who followed their grandfather by their own choice, since Vasily Nikandrovich for many years was grandfather’s attorney in all his affairs and one of the most his close friends.
Alexandra (Alexis) Obolenskaya Vasily and Anna Seryogin
Probably, you had to be truly a FRIEND in order to find the strength to make such a choice and go of your own free will to where you were going, as you go only to your own death. And this “death”, unfortunately, was then called Siberia...
I have always been very sad and painful for our beautiful Siberia, so proud, but so mercilessly trampled by the Bolshevik boots! ... And no words can tell how much suffering, pain, lives and tears this proud, but tormented land has absorbed... Is it because it was once the heart of our ancestral home that the “far-sighted revolutionaries” decided to denigrate and destroy this land, choosing it for their own devilish purposes?... After all, for many people, even many years later, Siberia still remained a “cursed” land, where someone’s father, someone’s brother, someone’s died. then a son... or maybe even someone's entire family.
My grandmother, whom I, to my great chagrin, never knew, was pregnant with my father at that time and had a very difficult time with the journey. But, of course, there was no need to wait for help from anywhere... So the young Princess Elena, instead of the quiet rustling of books in the family library or the usual sounds of the piano when she played her favorite works, this time she listened only to the ominous clatter of wheels, which seemed to menacingly counted down the remaining hours of her life, so fragile and which had become a real nightmare... She sat on some bags by the dirty carriage window and incessantly looked at the last pathetic traces of the “civilization” that was so familiar and familiar to her, going further and further away...
Grandfather's sister, Alexandra, with the help of friends, managed to escape at one of the stops. By general agreement, she was supposed to get (if she was lucky) to France, where her entire family was currently living. True, none of those present had any idea how she could do this, but since this was their only, albeit small, but certainly last hope, giving it up was too great a luxury for their completely hopeless situation. Alexandra’s husband, Dmitry, was also in France at that moment, with the help of whom they hoped, from there, to try to help her grandfather’s family get out of the nightmare into which life had so mercilessly thrown them, at the vile hands of brutal people...
Upon arrival in Kurgan, they were placed in a cold basement, without explaining anything and without answering any questions. Two days later, some people came for my grandfather and said that they had supposedly come to “escort” him to another “destination”... They took him away like a criminal, without allowing him to take any things with him, and without deigning to explain, where and for how long he is being taken. No one ever saw grandfather again. After some time, an unknown military man brought his grandfather’s personal belongings to the grandmother in a dirty coal sack... without explaining anything and leaving no hope of seeing him alive. At this point, any information about my grandfather’s fate ceased, as if he had disappeared from the face of the earth without any traces or evidence...
The tormented, tormented heart of poor Princess Elena did not want to come to terms with such a terrible loss, and she literally bombarded the local staff officer with requests to clarify the circumstances of the death of her beloved Nicholas. But the “red” officers were blind and deaf to the requests of a lonely woman, as they called her, “of the nobles,” who was for them just one of thousands and thousands of nameless “license” units that meant nothing in their cold and cruel world ...It was a real inferno, from which there was no way out back into that familiar and kind world in which her home, her friends, and everything that she had been accustomed to from an early age remained, and that she loved so strongly and sincerely... And there was no one who could help or at least give the slightest hope of survival.
The Seryogins tried to maintain presence of mind for the three of them, and tried by any means to lift the mood of Princess Elena, but she went deeper and deeper into an almost complete stupor, and sometimes sat all day long in an indifferently frozen state, almost not reacting to her friends’ attempts to save her heart. and the mind from final depression. There were only two things that briefly brought her back to the real world - if someone started talking about her unborn child or if any, even the slightest, new details came about the supposed death of her beloved Nikolai. She desperately wanted to know (while she was still alive) what really happened, and where her husband was, or at least where his body was buried (or dumped).
Unfortunately, there is almost no information left about the life of these two courageous and bright people, Elena and Nicholas de Rohan-Hesse-Obolensky, but even those few lines from Elena’s two remaining letters to her daughter-in-law, Alexandra, which were somehow preserved in Alexandra's family archives in France show how deeply and tenderly the princess loved her missing husband. Only a few handwritten sheets have survived, some of the lines of which, unfortunately, cannot be deciphered at all. But even what was successful screams with deep pain about a great human misfortune, which, without experiencing, is not easy to understand and impossible to accept.
April 12, 1927. From a letter from Princess Elena to Alexandra (Alix) Obolenskaya:
“I’m very tired today. I returned from Sinyachikha completely broken. The carriages are filled with people, it would be a shame to even carry livestock in them…………………………….. We stopped in the forest - there was such a delicious smell of mushrooms and strawberries... It’s hard to believe that it was there that these unfortunates were killed! Poor Ellochka (meaning Grand Duchess Elizaveta Fedorovna, who was related to my grandfather on the Hessian side) was killed nearby, in this terrible Staroselim mine... what a horror! My soul cannot accept this. Do you remember we said: “may the earth rest in peace”?.. Great God, how can such a land rest in peace?!..
Oh Alix, my dear Alix! How can one get used to such horror? ...................... ..................... I'm so tired of begging and humiliating myself... Everything will be completely useless if the Cheka does not agree to send a request to Alapaevsk...... I will never know where to look for him, and I will never know what they did to him. Not an hour goes by without me thinking about such a dear face to me... What a horror it is to imagine that he lies in some abandoned pit or at the bottom of a mine!.. How can one endure this everyday nightmare, knowing that he has already will I never see him?!.. Just like my poor Vasilek (the name that was given to my dad at birth) will never see him... Where is the limit of cruelty? And why do they call themselves people?..
My dear, kind Alix, how I miss you!.. At least I would like to know that everything is fine with you, and that Dmitry, dear to your soul, does not leave you in these difficult moments......... ................................... If I had even a drop of hope left to find my dear Nikolai, I would seems to have endured everything. My soul seems to have gotten used to this terrible loss, but it still hurts a lot... Everything without him is different and so desolate.”
May 18, 1927. An excerpt from Princess Elena’s letter to Alexandra (Alix) Obolenskaya:
“The same dear doctor came again. I can’t prove to him that I simply don’t have any more strength. He says that I should live for the sake of little Vasilko... Is this so?.. What will he find on this terrible earth, my poor baby? ........................................ The cough has returned, and sometimes it becomes impossible to breathe. The doctor always leaves some drops, but I’m ashamed that I can’t thank him in any way. ................................... Sometimes I dream about our favorite room. And my piano... God, how far it all is! And did all this even happen? ........................... and the cherries in the garden, and our nanny, so affectionate and kind. Where is all this now? ................................ (out the window?) I don’t want to look, it’s all covered in soot and only dirty boots are visible … I hate damp.”
My poor grandmother, from the dampness in the room, which was not warmed up even in summer, soon fell ill with tuberculosis. And, apparently weakened by the shocks she had suffered, starvation and illness, she died during childbirth, without ever seeing her baby, and without finding (at least!) the grave of his father. Literally before her death, she took the word from the Seryogins that, no matter how difficult it was for them, they would take the newborn (if he survived, of course) to France, to his grandfather’s sister. Which, at that wild time, to promise, of course, was almost “wrong”, since, unfortunately, the Seryogins had no real opportunity to do this... But they, nevertheless, promised her that at least somehow to ease the last minutes of her, so brutally ruined, very young life, and so that her soul, tormented by pain, could, at least with little hope, leave this cruel world... And even knowing that they will do everything possible to keep their word given to Elena , The Seryogins still didn’t really believe in their hearts that they would ever be able to bring this whole crazy idea to life...
