The second China-Russia conference on investment promotion opened Thursday in the northwestern city of St. Petersburg with a view to inking accords that are expected to top US$1.5 billion in total investment. 

The conference was attended by Chinese Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan, Russian Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref and other senior officials from both sides, as well as 600 representatives from both countries' business community.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Zeng called the conference an "important platform" for boosting bilateral investment cooperation, which helps enhance understanding and establish a long-term, stable partnership between the governments and enterprises of China and Russia.

Bilateral economic and technological exchanges have increasingly intensified and cooperation in investment has also deepened in recent years, Zeng said.

The 12 joint projects, deals for which were signed at the first China-Russia investment conference last year with a total investment of US$700 million, have all rolled into implementation, Zeng said.

At the current conference, seven agreements and a memorandum, which cover infrastructure, chemistry, forestry, household appliances and farm produce processing, will be inked, and investment for these projects will total US$1.5 billion, Zeng said.

He described expanding investment cooperation as beneficial to people of both countries and conducive to strengthening the China-Russia strategic partnership.

China embraces a mutually beneficial opening-up strategy that aims at a win-win result, Zeng said. China encourages home companies to invest in Russia and welcomes Russian companies to do the same in China, he added.

Zeng expressed his hope that both governments will work to improve legislation and business environment to help clear problems for investing companies.

German Gref, Ma Kai, China's minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission, and Ilya Klebanov, presidential representative to the Northwest Federal District, also addressed the conference.

Later in the day, Zeng attended the ground-breaking ceremony for the Baltic Pearl residential complex, the largest investment project in Russia by a Chinese company.

(Xinhua News Agency June 10, 2005)