Russia, China to set up working group to plan border cooperation

Russia and China have agreed to set up a high-level group to plan cooperation on the border territory between the two countries, Dmitry Rogozin, the deputy prime minister of the Russian Federation, told Russian reporters here on Tuesday. Regarding border crossing points, the deputy premier noted that “they should be located, proceeding from the map of enterprises set up and new joint ventures.” “We will consider where there is a real need in larger communications, and will decide who will pay for them and who will control the process and them we will create a sort of a road map,” he said. “We have agreed to consider the matter of border crossing points in a systemic way, that is proceeding from economic requirements. We will be developing the infrastructure of border crossing points in the framework of logistic ensurance, wherever they are really needed,” the deputy premier said. On Tuesday Dmitry Rogozin participated in the working meeting of the co-chairmen of the Russian-Chinese Commission to prepare regular meetings of heads of government, at which the Chinese side was represented by Deputy Premier of the State Council of the PRC Wang Yang. The mechanism of regular meetings of heads of government of Russia and China was established in 1996 on mutual arrangement of the leaders of the two countries to coordinate cooperation in the trade, economic, military, scientific and technical, energy, transport and nuclear areas and other areas, as well as on major projects and long-term cooperation programmes of strategic importance. To ensure the functioning of the mechanism, the Russian-Chinese Commission to prepare regular meetings of heads of government was set up in 1997. Dmitry Rogozin told the reporters on Tuesday that the meeting of the commission to precede the meeting of the heads of government of the two countries is due in the city of Xian, the administrative centre of Shaanxi Province in north-west China, in October.