Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, is striving to expand opening-up in order to deepen international cooperation on high-quality development, local media reported.

Known as a "bridgehead" to the north, Harbin has made constant efforts to expand its circle of friends and deepen exchanges and cooperation with Europe, Russia, the Republic of Korea and other countries and regions in recent years.

By building a cross-border passage, the Harbin Area of China (Heilongjiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone has extended its cooperation with Russia in the adjacent Far East to Central Russia and parts of Europe.

The fields of cooperation with Russia have also expanded from primary commodity trade to science and technology, logistics and transportation, deep processing of agricultural products, and advanced manufacturing, among other fields.

The Harbin Area has begun sending air cargo as well as railway and road freight to Russia, with Harbin as a distribution center connecting 123 cities and 19 overseas warehouses and stations in Russia.

At present, Harbin is stepping up the construction of international air cargo hubs and the processing zones for exported consumer goods. It is trying to leverage the policies in the pilot project of the innovative development of service trade and the pilot of second-handed vehicle exports, as well as the platform of the China-Russia Expo, further consolidating its status as a central city of cooperation with Russia and greatly improving the level of the city's opening-up.

Since its establishment more than three years ago, the average annual GDP growth rate of the Harbin Area has reached 6.5 percent, with an investment exceeding 300 billion yuan ($43.8 billion).

In 2022, 6,800 new enterprises opened in the Harbin Area, a year-on-year increase of 32.65 percent. Imports and exports totaled 7.63 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.9 percent.