Russia vital for Chinese enterprises "going global": Chinese vice president

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping said here on Monday that Russia is a vital market for the "going global" strategy of Chinese enterprises, and expressed hope that mutually-beneficial economic cooperation could help consolidate bilateral ties and strategic partnership.

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (C) visits the Baltic Pearl project, invested by  enterprises from Shanghai of China in St. Petersburg, Russia, March 22, 2010.  (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

"Chinese enterprises should step up efforts to go global ... and Russia is a vital market for the implementation of our 'going global' strategy," said Xi while inspecting a Sino-Russian joint project, the Baltic Pearl, in Russia's northern metropolis St. Petersburg.

With a total investment of over 1.3 billion U.S. dollars, the large commercial, real estate and tourism project involved several leading enterprises from east China's Shanghai Municipality, the St. Petersburg municipal government and the Export-Import Bank of China. It was launched in 2006.

The Baltic Pearl is one of the "exemplary projects" for Chinese investment in Russia, and has received strong support from local and central governments in both countries, Xi noted.

"I hope you show dedication and innovation in the implementation of the Baltic Pearl project, so as to blaze a new trail for more Chinese enterprises to come and invest in Russia," Xi told representatives of Chinese businesses involved in the project on the site.

The vice president said that it is the Chinese government's unswerving policy to encourage more domestic enterprises to go overseas for investment and cooperation, by means of production capacity transfer, mergers and acquisitions, joint resources development, and project contracting.