Russia and China forge closer mail links in Far East
Russian Post has said it is working with its Chinese counterparts to develop a new direct ground link between Russia and China in the Far East region. Officials from the two countries met in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod as part of a Russian-Chinese communications and IT summit, striking an agreement to consider the possibility of a new service through the border city of Blagoveshchensk.
Residents in the border areas of far-eastern Russia and north-east China have close economic and cultural links, but currently mail sent between the two countries in the region has to travel via Moscow.
A new direct logistics route across the border will cut transit time in half, said Russian Post.
Collaborative arrangements have been agreed, signed by Russian Post’s deputy director general Gennady Kotov and China Post’s deputy manager of development and corporate technology Shin Lee.
The two sides have also agreed to continue developing the mail services for residents in border areas of Russia and China including the Blagoveschchensk-Heihe border crossing and the links between Vladivostok and Suifenhe.
Kotov said: “Economic ties between Russia and China have strengthened from year to year. There is a growing exchange of goods, and with it the volume of mail sent between the two countries.
“I am sure that the protocol signed at the Russian-Chinese Subcommission on Communications and Information Technology will improve the quality of service to our fellow countrymen who exchange mail with China.”
Along with the regional development, Russian Post and China Post are also set to devote a stronger focus to the quality of processing mail set from Beijing to Moscow, setting up a new rapid communication channel to better coordinate responses to technical difficulties.
The agreement also initiated a resumption of the bilateral exchange of electronic money transfers between Russian Post and China Post, which will happen through the international financial system established by the Universal Postal Exchange. Joint testing is to be carried out by the two sides before the end of the year.
