On April 1, 2025, a working meeting was held in Murmansk between the head of the Murmansk region, Andrey Chibis, and the Consul General of the People"s Republic of China in St. Petersburg, Luo Zhanhui. It was also attended by heads of regional departments, representatives of the consulate and the business community of China. The main issue on the agenda of the meeting was the development of various areas of cooperation.
"I am glad to welcome real partners who are friendly to our country to the Murmansk region. We have many topics for cooperation, there are great prospects in the logistics sector and port infrastructure, taking into account the development of the Northern Sea Route. Over the past five years, trade between the Murmansk region and China has increased by 7.2 times. These are not just numbers – this is the result of deep integration and expansion of bilateral cooperation. China ranks second among the region"s main foreign trade partners. I would like to note that the International Arctic Forum was recently held in Murmansk. During the plenary session, Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin outlined the priorities for the development of the Arctic: resource extraction and processing, creation of mineral resource centers, as well as investments to improve the quality of life. It is obvious that we have great prospects for cooperation,” the governor emphasized.
In addition, the Murmansk Region is undoubtedly popular with tourists from China. The head of the region emphasized that the number of guests from China is growing.
“Dear Andrei Vladimirovich, thank you for the reception. I heard that the International Arctic Forum was a success. I completely agree with you on the topics of cooperation. Thanks to the leaders of our countries, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Xi Jinping, we have every opportunity for a comprehensive partnership. Our interaction is developing in almost all areas. In 2024, more than 26 thousand tourists from China visited the Murmansk Region. This is five times more than in 2023. We are confident that thanks to good attitudes and mutual trust, our partnership will strengthen. In August, the prime ministers of our countries emphasized the importance of developing the Arctic and cooperation in this area,” Luo Zhanhui said.
Following the meeting, the head of the region emphasized the role of China as a strategic partner, noting that the leaders of our countries closely interact, which creates new opportunities for joint work at the regional level.
"We discussed several key areas in detail. Given the development of the Northern Sea Route, this is a huge niche. It can be expressed in the development of appropriate routes and transportation, the development of construction of new ports using modern technologies. The second task is related to fishing, processing and export to China. We already have such experience. The third aspect concerns industrial projects. We are engaged in lithium mining, other industries are developing, and given the gasification supported by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, new opportunities will open up for us. In addition, we discussed education, student exchange, joint research in the Arctic. Tourism is also extremely important for us. We have a huge number of Chinese guests. The task is to improve the service so that they always feel comfortable here," the governor concluded.
Luo Zhanhui noted that the significance of the meeting is in the constant course for friendly cooperation in all areas: fisheries, transport, logistics.
"We have already reached agreements on student exchange. I am sure that we have great prospects. The Murmansk Region and the Chinese side pay constant attention to transport issues, we discussed various aspects of this issue. Thanks to the strategic location of the city of Murmansk, our cooperation will be even better," the Consul General expressed confidence.
/ Ministry of Information Policy of the Murmansk Region /
