Over 25 agreements to be signed at SPROUTS forum

For the first time, China is first in trade turnover with Tatarstan

Last year, 21 agreements were signed following the results of the forum. As the speaker reported, Tatarstan enterprises have already successfully delivered the equipment according to signed contracts, and joint development of some initiatives in China, including investment, began. Some Tatarstan enterprises were able to enter the Chinese market after the forum SPROUTS: Russia and China — Mutually Beneficial Cooperation. The exact information is not disclosed, the head of TIDA emphasised, but she named the areas of their work: manufacturing industry, petrochemical industry, equipment, food. This year, according to Minullina, more than 25 agreements are expected to be signed.

Negotiations will be held on a number of topics: education, industry, development of the business environment, IT, tourism and others. “We expect that they will not just be memoranda but agreements,” the head of TIDA stressed. At the same time, she warned: “We cannot evaluate the forum based on the signed agreements that we give to the press.” Many companies are now in “silence mode.” They are not ready to speak at sessions, but will hold negotiations behind closed doors. TIDA is pinning big hopes on behind-the-scenes meetings of representatives of Tatar and Chinese businesses.

Investments from China to Tatarstan are growing today, the speaker assured the audience. New projects are in development, mainly related to the manufacturing industry. For example, China has expressed a desire to produce drilling equipment and cellulose in the republic. Promising areas, according to the head of the AIR, are food and tourism.

“We need to work hard in medical equipment, while this part is lagging. I think next year we will go there more specifically. We would like to localise this topic, a good niche for replacement,” she added.

As for the trade turnover between Tatarstan and China, last year it grew significantly, says Minullina. It exceeded 3 billion rubles by the end of 2023. This year, China took first place in trade turnover with Tatarstan for the first time. “Previously, we did not have trading partners from China in first place,” the head of TIDA highlighted.

“And the same is true for foreign investment. Although there are not many of them, the Chinese have taken first place in the first six months of 2024,” she said.

Thus, by the end of 2022, the volume of investments amounted to $1.6 billion, and in 2023 — it did more than $3 billion.

“Electronic equipment and the automotive industry are the areas where we have grown the most with China. In Tatarstan, more than half of imports are Chinese. We buy a lot from China compared to other countries,” the speaker added.

Tatarstan mainly exports petrochemical products to China.

“There are a lot of requests for agricultural enterprises, especially for grain, milk processing”

Forum participants can schedule B2B negotiations directly on the website. The Chinese guests are currently planning their program and actively signing up for excursions to the republic's enterprises. KAMAZ, Tatneft, Kazan Helicoptes and Alabuga Special Economic Zone are popular.

“There are a lot of requests for agricultural enterprises, especially for grain, milk processing, and dry milk. They often ask to visit Innopolis,” added the head of TIDA.

A large number of translators are required for the events and meetings included in the forum program. According to Minullina, there is a shortage of Chinese language experts in Tatarstan. “There is a shortage of translators,” she stated. Specialists were sought throughout the country.

“We must understand that we need a lot of Chinese translators for bilateral meetings. We hire them separately, and we gather them from all over Russia,” the speaker noted.

Finance and logistics will be among the hottest topics

“There are certain platforms that Chinese provinces are creating and offering us to switch to e-commerce. Issues of commodity exchange are being discussed on various platforms,” Minullina noted.

Speaking about currency transactions between Russia and China, she said that today there are different ways to carry them out, not only through third countries but also directly. “There are just very few of them, and as soon as you mention them somewhere, this channel is immediately closed. When there is a high-level decision, then we will be able to discuss it at this forum,” says Minullina

The discussion of logistics will be no less important; the forum is expecting the president’s adviser, special presidential representative for international cooperation in the field of transport Igor Levitin for a reason. A separate session will be devoted to this topic, and it will be raised at the plenary session. Speaking about how logistics is built between Tatarstan and China, Minullina noted: road transport is the most popular for cargo transportation. “Then there is the railway, then water, and then cargo,” she concluded.

It is expected that the growth of trade turnover will be facilitated by the launch of such a project as the Deng Xiaoping logistics complex, which is being implemented by Alabuga Special Economic Zone because logistics networks are overloaded today. It is planned to reach full capacity no earlier than 2026, since the second stage of construction is ahead. “This centre is a very serious growth point for us. I am sure that it will be loaded very quickly. Test deliveries are currently underway,” the speaker noted.

The organising committee doubted for a long time whether to include the session Prospects for Cooperation in the Automotive Industry between Russia and China in the programme, the head of TIDA shared. It will discuss how the supply of Chinese auto parts to our country will change. China has been subject to US sanctions for trade with Russia and in December must adopt new rules for export control of goods. So the focus of the session will be on the passenger car industry “to discuss what is happening and what prospects await us.”

Taliya Minullina is confident that the forum has a great future. “This event will definitely grow. I think it will take about four years for it to grow into a powerful global forum,” she predicts.