Manzhouli is a border city with Russia in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, northern China. This year, Manzhouli welcomes the city’s centenary, after years of construction, Manzhouli has become a famous border city in northern China, it is the most important port today to connect China with Russia and eastern Europe.
The grand celebrationof Manzhouli City’s 100th birthday was held in the city square on August 19th, 2002. From an unknown village one century ago, Manzhouli has now become a modern and open city.
Hulunbel is one of the largest grassland areas in China. The beautiful border city Manzhouli is in the northeastern Hulunbel grassland with a population of 230,000. As the greatest land-route port in China, Manzhouli borders Russia on the north and is near Mongolia on the west. After being listed as one of the four open border cities by the State Council in 1992, Manzhouli gradually became an open city primarily focused on international trade and tourism.
“We will focus on international trade and tourism. We make these two items our major industry. Our strategy is to support trade with industry, agriculture and commerce. The city should become a large port, a wide passage, and a huge market,” said Yang Hanzhong, mayor of Manzhouli City.
As the greatest land-route port, Manzhouli forms a close connection between China and Russia. As the ‘Window of Eastern Asia’, Manzhouli has been the most important commercial port between Asia and Europe for long. Russia has inexhaustible natural resources, Manzhouli port busily transports hundreds of tons of goods between Russia and China everyday, and this provides many trade opportunities for entrepreneurs on both sides. Nowadays, the port records more than one million person/-times in border passage per year, and more than 60 percent of the land-route transportation between Russia and China are done through the port. Meanwhile the weight of the goods transported is expected to reach 10 million tons this year.
“Chita and Manzhouli are neighbors, so these two cities should cooperate closely with each other. There have been two companies that helped us construct buildings in Chita till now. And at the same time, companies in Chita are also interested in development in Manzhouli. I hope there will be more and more companies from Russia that come to trade with Manzhouli, and we are now planning to build a Russian street in Manzhouli. I think our cooperation will be reinforced in all aspects,” said Viktor I.Zhukov, chairman of the Chita Municipal Duma, Russia.
Vehicles and people come and go in this port freely, while commodities can also flow in large amounts. Adjacent to this port, is the Russia-China Exchange Market which was established six years ago, the market strides over both countries. Since the market has an area of 10 square km in both sides, not only Chinese people who could purchase Russian goods, Russians can also find a superb collection of Chinese goods.
With an area of 6.4 square km, the Cooperative Zone contains an industrial processing area, hi-tech area, commercial area, and recreation area. Lots of local factories have also been set up in this zone.
“Since our market is mainly focused on Russia, we should give full play to our port advantage, in order to attract domestic capital, and investors. Making best use of Russia’s rich natural resources, we should develop the industry of processing Russian materials, and also the manufacture of goods we export to Russia. We will develop the zone into an incubator and interface, we will also improve the environment, to better service trade with Russia and eastern Europe,” said Liang Baoyuan, director of Manzhouli Frontier Economic Cooperative Zone.
With the encouraging investment environment and preferential policies, the Frontier Economic Cooperative Zone also attracts huge amounts of overseas investment.
Maybe the sound infrastructure and soft investment environment are other attractions for overseas investors. Clear sky, wide roads, and majestic European style buildings. Standing on the street of Manzhouli, you feel you are in an elegant European city. Some Russian-built buildings are well preserved, and at the same time, the government is purposely constructing different kinds of unique buildings.
Downtown Manzhouli city gathers together all kinds of markets and shops selling all kinds of goods. People busily walk back and forth; even Russians cross the border to shop.
Better service makes the investment successful; and the nearby grassland and other beautiful scenic spots make people relaxed. Hulun Lake, the largest freshwater lake in Northern China, is to the south of Manzhouli, the charming scenery provides an ideal way to relax for people in the inland city.
Calvary police is something you may only see in Manzhouli City, as it is unique in China, the officers on horseback also add appeal to this wonderful city.
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