Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province exported 5.68 billion U.S. dollars worth of goods to Russia last year, 19.5 per cent of the nation's total, sources with the provincial department of commerce said.

In 2005, Heilongjiang Port realized a total cargo turnover of 9.62 million tons, up 18.4 per cent over the previous year. And about 3.6 million trips were made through the port, up 20 percent year-on-year.

The province has signed 106 economic and technological cooperation contracts, with a total value of 160 million U.S. dollars, with the neighboring country.

Altogether 15 Heilongjiang-based enterprises have been granted licenses for mining and three for oil exploration. As well, the province was permitted to buy 500 million kwh of electricity from Russia and exploit eight million cubic meters of forest resources in the country.

Source: Xinhua