On 16 December 2014 the Trade Mission of the Russian Federation to the People’s Republic of China hosted a roundtable meeting ‘Cultivating Deeper Russia-Chinese Co-operation in Developing the Metallurgy Sector’, organized by the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation and the National Development and Reform Commission of China. Igor Koval, Director of the Department for Investment Policy and Development of Public–Private Partnership at the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, and Liu Hongkuan, Deputy Director of the National Development and Reform Commission’s department of foreign capital and overseas investment, moderated the event, which was attended by more than 40 representatives of the two countries’ business communities.
The roundtable meeting was held within the scope of the Intergovernmental Russian–Chinese Investment Cooperation Commission. The Commission Secretariat has reached an agreement to hold three more roundtable meetings in 2015 to address various sectors of the two economies.
According to Igor Koval, in January–October 2014, Russia’s non-ferrous metals production index amounted to 100% of the same period in 2013. The output of precious metals and high added value products went up by 6.2% year-on-year in January–October 2014, showing better dynamics than production of non-ferrous metals.
He noted that Russian iron and steel companies had remained global market leaders, as cast iron output had increased by 2.2% year-on-year in January–October 2014, steel output by 1.9%, rolled ferrous metal products by 2.8% and steel pipe output by 10.1%.
Furthermore, the Department Director mentioned bilateral investment engagement, including within the framework of the Intergovernmental Russian–Chinese Investment Cooperation Commission, noting the importance for both countries of supporting the 32 projects approved by the Commission in September 2014.
To conclude the event, Igor Koval invited the participants in the roundtable meeting to visit the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which is also expected to organize an industry roundtable.
