A Chinese firm, Xuan Yuan, is gearing up to commit as much as 5 billion yuan to build a conveyor system that would move coal products from Russia’s Amur region along the Amur River toward China’s Heilongjiang province. This plan was shared with the InfoTEK analytical center by Jiao Jian, the company’s deputy general manager for foreign cooperation and vice chairman of the China Coal Import Association.
Jiao explained that several options for the project and the potential involvement of a Chinese partner are currently under assessment. He pointed out that routes entirely along the Amur would require less investment and lower throughput, while placing the conveyor before the border would entail higher costs. He reiterated that the total investment could reach around 5 billion yuan, but the final figure would depend on distance and site conditions, with interstate support seen as essential for success.
The official also indicated that construction of the plant could begin as early as next year, emphasizing that Russian-Chinese collaboration in the coal sector should expand to include joint coal production, transit, and the execution of investment initiatives.
Initial projections forecast a transfer volume of about 15 million tons per year, with expectations that the figure could grow to 70 million tons as the project progresses and capacities expand.
Earlier, a cooperation agreement was signed in 2022 at the Eastern Economic Forum between the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation (KRDV) and the Port Infrastructure Development Center (PIDC) to advance Russian coal imports, with Xuan Yuan noted as a key partner in this effort. The project envisions basing the conveyor system on a coal terminal in the Amur region and building the necessary reception infrastructure in Heihe, a city in Heilongjiang province.