Harbin Hosts First China-Russia Regional Mayors Round Table

China’s Harbin city, close to the Russian border in its northerly Heilongjiang Province, has hosted the first meeting of Chinese and Russian city mayors. The theme was “Promoting innovative urban development through ice and snow culture.” The meeting was designed to serve as a multi-level and broad-aspect platform for contacts and consultations between different cities of the two countries.

Local media reported that representatives from 13 Chinese and Russian cities, distinguished by the rapid development of ice and snow resource capitalisation or possessing great potential for development in this field, attended the meeting. Participants included officials, entrepreneurs, and industry experts. They held an in-depth exchange of views on topical issues such as building “smart” cities, developing the cultural and tourism industry using ice and snow resources, and updating the image and functions of cities.

Harbin itself is well known for its spectacular winter ice festival, with city mayors and businesspeople from Ulan-Ude, Irkutsk, Blagoveshchensk, Khabarovsk, Hulin, Hohhot, Hulunbuir, Yichuan, and Mohe outlining views on the introduction of digital technologies in urban management and discussing effective approaches to using ice and snow resources to promote the development of urban culture and tourism. They shared experience in protecting ancient historical quarters, reconstructing old residential complexes, and improving the environment.

A Chinese-Russian symposium on technologies and industry in the construction industry also took place, covering a wide range of issues related to urban planning, investment attraction, and the deployment of technological cooperation.

Participants from both sides expressed their intention to further activate fruitful interaction in areas such as urban planning and cultural-tourism integrated development and introduce improved interregional cooperation between northern China and Russia.

At present, Russian citizens can currently visit China for up to 30 days visa-free, and vice versa. Direct flights between the two countries increased by 57% in 2025, while over 2 million Russian tourists visited China during the year, a figure that is expected to substantially increase in 2026.

Turning its forbidding winters into a unique tourist attraction has paid off for Harbin, which received 90 million visitors in the 2024-2025 winter season.