Heilongjiang's government is working on an economic belt project to further open up the northeastern province and make it a new economic engine in the region.

Last year the provincial government suggested developing the "East Land and Maritime Silk Road Economic Belt" against the backdrop of the nation's "One Road One Belt" initiative. The scheme draws inspiration from the ancient overland and marine Silk Roads and aims to develop wider connections and more cooperation between China and the world.

Heilongjiang province has long been an important trade partner for Russia and is home to 25 State-level dry ports for cross-border trade.

According to local officials, the economic belt project includes improving and upgrading transport infrastructure in the province, developing a logistics network that connects Asia and Europe and more trade and investment cooperation projects.

The economic belt covers all the cities in the province. Outward, it extends to Europe and northeast Asia and inside the country it stretches to Northeast, South, North and East China, to open up the province to both the international and national market.

The first cross-border railway bridge between China and Russia, the Tongjiang Railway Bridge, is under construction. Work started in February last year and, when complete, the bridge will be able to handle loads of 21 million tons.

The economic belt project also includes a Eurasian railway system connecting Suifenhe in Heilongjiang in the east with Manzhouli in Inner Mongolia, Russia and Europe in the west. Overland and marine transportation systems between Suifenhe and the Russian Far East will also be developed under the project.

The province also handles freight headed to Russia from the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei regions.

In recent years, Russia has stepped up efforts to attract Chinese investment. Some cities in the Russian Far East offer preferential tax policies for investors from China.

The economic belt is also expected to attract industrial clusters. Heilongjiang is developing industrial parks to accommodate more cooperation projects with Russia and also industrial projects from other cities in China.

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