RF President Dmitry Medvedev to pay first-ever visit to Xianggang

BOAO (Hainan province, China), April 16 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev is ending the first part of his visit to China
and leaving the town Boao for Hong Kong (Xianggang). This is the
first-ever visit by a Russian president to this special administrative
region of China.
The Russian president's working visit to China began on Wednesday in
the city of Sanya on Hainan Island. There was held a BRICS summit, in
which Dmitry Medvedev took part. Then the Russian leader took a train to
the town of Boao 180 kilometers away, where he attended the "Asian Davos"
economic forum as a guest of honor.
In Xianggang, Medvedev is scheduled to have a meeting with the head of
the administration, Donald Tsang. Their meeting will be a fourth in a row.
For the first time they held talks in Lima in 2008, then, in November 2009
in Singapore, and in August last year in Moscow.
It is also expected that the Russian leader will visit the Hong Kong
Stock Exchange and talk with its management.
"Finance is a priority area of cooperation with Xianggang, of course,"
said Russian presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko. "The Hong Kong Stock
Exchange,, as is known, has been the world's leader in terms of IPOs for a
second consecutive year. In January 2010 there was a successful placement
of shares by the company RUSAL. A number of other Russian companies are
also engaged in substantive negotiations on accessing this exchange."
"In addition, deeper financial cooperation is useful for Russia in the
light of plans for creating an international financial center in Moscow,"
added Prikhodko. "In this regard, we are interested in drawing expert
financial potential."
"The Russian president is paying the working visit to Xianggang at the
invitation of Donald Tsang, who visited Moscow in August-September 2010.
It is expected to support the dynamics of expanding Russia-Xianggang
relations, create conditions for better tapping the existing potential,
including the promotion of modernization processes in the Russian
economy," said Prikhodko.
"In recent years, Russia's ties with Xianggang in the overall
structure of Russian-Chinese relations were developing very successfully
and rapidly, largely thanks to the atmosphere as a close partnership
between Moscow and Beijing and to Xianggang's growing attention to the
possibilities of mutually beneficial cooperation with Russia," the Kremlin
official said.
"Particular attention will be paid to the deployment of investment
cooperation with Xianggang," the presidential aide said. "By now the
volume of accumulated investments by the special administrative area
Xianggang in Russia has totaled 215 million U.S. dollars (36th place among
foreign investors in Russia). We believe that it could be more. "
"Significant opportunities for the expansion of Xianggang businesses
in Russia are to be opened by the program for cooperation between the
regions of Eastern Siberia and the Far East and Northeast of China,
adopted by the leaders of Russia and China in 2009, as well as involvement
in preparations for the APEC summit in Vladivostok in 2012," said
Prikhodko.
"The strengthening of Russia's contacts with Xianggang should also
contribute to local investors' greater interest in such priority
modernization areas of the Russian economy as energy-saving technologies
and precision engineering".
"Xianggang is attractive as an advanced progressive platform for
investment, and for financial and economic projects that are crucial not
only to China, but also to the region as a whole," said Prikhodko. "They
have a very keen vision of economic processes in the financial sector and
the international efforts to overcome financial crisis."
Another promising sphere is research into and development of new
technologies.
"During his stay in Xianggang Medvedev is expected to consider
possible ways (including participation in the project Skolkovo) of using
the experience of Xianggang companies in the protection of patent rights
and prompt implementation of scientific achievements in mass production,"
said Prikhodko.
"Another common problem for both sides, which will be discussed during
the upcoming talks, is that of building up mutual trading relations," he
continued. "In 2010 the trade turnover between Russia and Xianggang showed
steady growth and, according to Russian statistics, reached nearly 900
million dollars (according to Xianggang statistics, taking into account
the flow of goods through third countries, it was equal to almost 2.5
billion dollars).
"Of great interest to Russia is the rich experience of Xianggang in
the fight against crime and corruption and in combating drugs
trafficking," said Prikhodko.
Xianggang, a former British colony, on July 1, 1997 came under the
jurisdiction of the PRC and was named the Special Administrative Region of
Xianggang. It is located in southern China, and includes Hong Kong Island,
Kowloon Peninsula and 235 adjacent islands. In all, the area of SARX is
comparable to that of Moscow, but the population density is half of
Moscow's. There are approximately seven million residents.
Deng Xiaoping's concept of "one country - two systems" will maintain a
high degree of self-government in the territory up to 2047. Beyond the
competence of the local authorities are only foreign affairs and defense,
which remain a prerogative of the government of the PRC. The territory has
been guaranteed the immutability of its socio-economic system, it has
retained the status of a duty-free trade zone, a separate customs
territory, and an international financial center with its own monetary and
financial system.
Xianggang has begun to play the role of a regional financial center
with gradual access to a higher international level. Now Xianggang hosts
the regional headquarters of more than 70 of the 100 largest banks in the
world.
In SARX there remain extremely favorable conditions for business. For
many years the area has consistently ranked the "freest economy" on the
scale of the American Heritage Foundation. At the same time it is also in
12th place among the least corrupt of the 180 countries in the rankings of
Transparency International. Currently, the living standard in Xianggang is
one of the highest in Asia.