The Tomsk Region's experience in working with Chinese investors is being studied in the Russian regions. A delegation of the government of the Chelyabinsk Region visited the Tomsk region. The purpose of the working visit was to get acquainted with the experience of the region in cooperation with China. The heads of the regional departments for the socio-economic development of rural areas, forestry and the Tomsk Region Development Corporation presented the specifics of the implementation of Russian-Chinese projects to their Chelyabinsk colleagues.

"We would like to understand what path you have taken to move from words and agreements to concrete projects in relations with China," said Anton Bakhaev, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Chelyabinsk Region.

The modern stage of cooperation between the Tomsk region and China has more than 10 years of experience. One of the main key points was the signing of an agreement with Shandong Province in 2008 - it is with this area of the PRC that the main Russian-Chinese projects developing in the region are connected today. One of them, the project to create the Asinovsky Forestry Park, the investor of which is the Chinese company AVIC Forestry, is the largest in Russia. In total, about 50 enterprises with Chinese participation are currently operating in the Tomsk region LPC. The key to success in working with Chinese investors, according to the head of the Forestry Department Mikhail Malkevich, is the active position of the authorities, thanks to which it is possible to overcome the main difficulties when they enter the territory - when allocating land plots, connecting to infrastructure, etc.

 "We are already involved in the project at the zero stage, since everything starts with a discussion of the raw material base," he stressed. - And if the investor proves himself as a bona fide partner, we conduct the project almost manually."

Cooperation with Chinese investors in the agro-industrial complex, as noted by Irina Cherdantseva, head of the regional Department for Socio-economic Development of the village, is developing within the framework of intergovernmental relations.

"The regional administration has done a lot of work to make the Ministry of Agriculture include us among the pilot regions for relations with China. This status gives us the opportunity, on the one hand, to attract cheap foreign financial resources to agriculture, on the other, to direct state support funds for the implementation of joint projects, which, of course, is very attractive for investors," she explained.

Another feature of the Tomsk-Chinese cooperation is that a representative of the Tomsk Region Development Corporation works in China on a permanent basis, which serves as a "window" for Tomsk entrepreneurs and scientists to China. "Personal communication is very important for the Chinese - this is a feature of Eastern culture," said Stanislav Yaschuk, head of the corporation.