“We highly appreciate the visit to the Republic of Tatarstan. We have a lot in common, we are very similar”
A delegation from the Office of Foreign Affairs of the People's Government of Hubei Province visited AIR RT on a business visit. “When we first entered your Agency, we immediately felt the energy of both you and the entire Agency. Thank you very much, you all made the best impression on me. Your colleagues are young, they very well combine both experience and youth in your agency and of course in the Republic of Tatarstan. Thank you again for the warm welcome,” Director of the Office Zhang Xiaomei thanked the head of the Agency, Talia Minullina.
“The first purpose of my visit is that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between us and Russia, and this year is the year of culture between China and Russia, so our delegation specifically decided to visit Russia, specifically the Republic of Tatarstan. We highly appreciate visit to Tatarstan. Firstly, because Hubei province is located in the center of the country, and the republic is also located in the center of the European part of Russia. We have many similarities, very similar,” continued Ms. Xiaomei. She noted that cooperation between Hubei Province and Russia has deep historical roots.
Firstly, in September 2015, during the Visit of the Russian President to China, an agreement was concluded between Wuhan and Kazan on the opening of mutual consulates general.“It is thanks to the smart leadership of the heads of the two states that I think that the city of Wuhan and Kazan are sister cities, although such an agreement has not yet been signed, I think that we have a brilliant future. And although I only stayed in Kazan for a few hours, I already felt one hundred percent energy the city of Kazan. Firstly, our city of Wuhan and our province of Hubei is a province of thousands of lakes and 9 highways. And our province is very strong in scientific research. There are more than 130 universities, more than 2 million students and more than 80 scientific academies in Hubei province. therefore, Hubei province is rich in talented people. Secondly, the province is on the middle part of the Yangtze River and the Republic of Tatarstan is on the middle part of the Volga. I have long dreamed of visiting the city of Kazan and I understand why Kazan was chosen for the location of the local consulate general,” concluded the director of the Office.
During the meeting, areas of cooperation between Tatarstan and the province in the near future were discussed. Talia Minullina proposed making two collections about the economies of Russia and China (needs for imports, opportunities for exports, dynamics and development trends, etc.). In turn, the head of the delegation added: “We want to establish cooperation in the fields of Chinese medicine. We have been following the development of relations between Tatarstan and China for a long time and of course we are ready to attend the second Russian-Chinese forum “ROSTKI”, demonstrate a stand, our cars on new energy sources and medicine, both Chinese and conventional. This year is the year of culture between China and Russia and, of course, Hubei province is the birthplace of Chinese civilization. And the Hubei circus and Wushu are a card of Chinese civilization. And of course we offer to show a lot during the forum. We will do our best" - Zhang Xiaomei.
At the end of the meeting, she noted that “Despite the fact that the visit was short, I already absolutely felt a common desire to cooperate together in many areas and I think that the potential of our province and the Republic of Tatarstan in cooperation is very large and of course I wholeheartedly offer Mrs. Minullina to visit the city of Wuhan, Hubei province!"
The meeting was also attended by Acting Consul General of the People's Republic of China in Kazan Han Mingyu and Consul and Attaché of the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Kazan Xie Siqi.