The "Year of China" in Russia has been widely hailed since it
opened on Tuesday and has drawn attention not only in Russia but
across the world.
The theme year, brought under the international media spotlight
as a result of President Hu Jintao's visit, continued with the
staging of the Chinese National Exhibition - the biggest
comprehensive show China has held abroad in almost three
decades.
"The Chinese National Exhibition shows that it (China) has now
recorded a much faster economic growth than the United States,"
said former Prime Minister Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov.?
Contracts worth $4.3 billion were signed by Chinese and Russian
enterprises after the opening ceremony of the exhibition.
The show, one of about 200 events to be held this year to mark
the "Year of China in Russia," occupies a huge hall with more than
20,000 square meters of floor space and showcases some 15,000
products from 30 industries such as energy, machinery, automobiles
and home appliances.
Russian TV stations, newspapers and websites broadcasted live or
made the opening ceremony of the theme year and the exhibition
their lead stories, and highlighted China's achievements in
aviation, ship-building, information technology and other
sectors.
The Commersant and Rossiskaya Gazeta newspapers both published
special issues for the theme year, introducing to their readers an
overall view of China.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov said the theme year "will
be accompanied by interesting, unique and informative events for
Russians."
(China Daily March 29, 2007)
