A little more than half a century ago, China began its economic
reconstruction and modernization process, after going through a few
tumultuous decades of wars and uncertainty. The construction of its
first automobile assembly line was a pilot project at the time.
"We were then China's key partner and helped them build their
first automobile works," Constantin Laptev, general manager of the
Russian Lihachev automobile factory, recalled on Wednesday at the
Crocus-Expo center in Moscow, where a Chinese National Exhibition
is being held.
Now, Laptev is eager to further cooperate with the FAW Group,
the largest automobile enterprise in China with an annual output of
more than 1 million cars, and which has also established joint
ventures with Volkswagen and Toyota.
"We will further exchange with our partners in northeast China's
Changchun, where the FAW's headquarters are located, and expand our
cooperation in making cars," he said.
FAW is not the sole star in the exhibition covering an
impressive floor area of 20,000-square-meter. Other auto makers
from China such as Chery, Great Wall and Brilliance also attracted
Russian interest.
"Moscow is suffering from heavy traffic jams and Chery's small
cars are easy to drive and park. I really want to try it on the
road," said Leonid Kim, putting a hand on a red Chery.
A number of Chinese car makers, including Chery and Great Wall,
have sold their products in Russia and have also established joint
ventures there.
During Chinese President Hu Jintao's three-day state visit to
Russia this week, he flew to Tatarstan and expressed support for
the Great Wall, which is going to be one of the first companies to
start a manufacturing plant in the Yelabuga free economic zone.
Other Chinese heavyweights such as PetroChina are also taking
part in the exhibition and leading companies like Haier and
Lenovoare showcasing their air-conditioners, laptops and super
computers. Models of the three-gorges dam, the rail link to Tibet
and the Shenzhou VI manned spaceship are also attracting a
lot of attention.
"China used to produce only water bottles and toys. However, the
Chinese National Exhibition shows that it has now recorded a much
faster economic growth than the United States ever did," said
former Prime Minister Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov, who is also
chairman of the Russian chamber of commerce and industry.
The other celebrities at Moscow's largest exhibition center are
the "Fuwa" - the five mascots for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. They
represent four popular animals from China -- the fish, the panda,
the Tibetan antelope, the swallow -- and the Olympic Flame.
"I learned from TV reports that Beijing will host the Olympics
next year. I really want to go there then and travel around the
country," said Anna Frumkina, a visitor.
In the past years, Russia and China have gone through a period
of bonhomie with a surge in bilateral ties.
Gazing at dozens of old photos entitled "Flourishing red berry:
Russians in Harbin," Valentina Yiakovlevna eagerly asked her
Chinese interpreter for help. An uncle of this 80-year-old lady
went to Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang province,
in the 1930s where he married and settled down.
"My uncle must have passed away but I have come here to find out
if there is any way I can trace a relative of mine still living
there," she said. "I get really excited when I look at these
pictures because one of these people might very well be my
relative, even though I can never be sure."
(Xinhua News Agency March 29, 2007)
