China's Heilongjiang Province to expand cooperation with Russia in the field of ice resources

The province of Heilongjiang in the northeastern part of China will continue to actively develop cooperation with Russia against the background of the rapid development of the ice and snow economy in the region. This was reported on January 26 by Xinhua news agency, citing Chinese officials and experts.

According to Ma Yujun, chief expert of the Institute of Northeast Asian Strategies of the Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, the development of China's trade with Russia through ice and snow, as well as the creation of a cross-border tourism society is an important factor in the economic development of Heilongjiang.

In addition, he called it necessary to develop joint trade in equipment and equipment for winter sports, and also drew attention to the need to form a regional network of tourism cooperation that not only covers this province, but also Vladivostok and Blagoveshchensk.

The coach of Harbin Speed Skating Club "3A" Du Bingyan said that the Russian Federation has traditional advantages in winter sports such as figure skating and hockey. In recent years, the club has invited several Russian figure skating and speed skating coaches to train young athletes.

Thus, an important area of cooperation is holding winter sports competitions on a regular basis among professional athletes and amateurs from Russia and China. Since the beginning of 2026, the Chinese-Russian snow soccer tournament, the 4th International Jingbo Lake Ice Race, the Chinese-Russian ice-snow off-road car race and some others have already been held in Heilongjiang Province.

"Russia has traditional advantages in figure skating. We should study the advanced concepts of Russian figure skating coaches. At the same time, Russia is strong in ice hockey, and Russian coaches have a unique understanding of technical movements, tactics, physical fitness, and so on," Du Bingyang shared.

One of the ongoing projects for the joint development of ice and snow resources is a cable car between Blagoveshchensk in Russia and Heihe in China, which will run along the Amur River. Gao Yiyang, Deputy General Director of Jinlonggang Construction Company, clarified that the road is planned to be put into operation as early as June 2026.

According to a report by the Chinese Academy of Tourism, China's ice and snow economy has exceeded 1 trillion yuan. At the same time, China considers this area of the economy to be one of the key factors for development and consumption. According to experts, by 2027 its scale will reach 1.2 trillion yuan, and by 2030 — 1.5 trillion yuan.

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