Heilongjiang's trade with Russia up 11.9% in eight months

Published：19 October 2026 Source：Heilongjiang Provincial Department of Commerce (provincial government press conference) Font：

The province reported its January–August 2026 foreign trade results. Exports grew faster than the national average, and trade through its free trade zone rose by more than a third.

At a Heilongjiang provincial government press conference in Harbin on 19 October, officials from the provincial Department of Commerce reported on foreign trade and opening-up for January–August 2026.

The province's foreign trade reached CNY 232.01 billion, up 11.1% year on year. Exports grew 21.7%, which is 7.1 percentage points faster than the national average, and trade with Russia rose 11.9%. Export cargo through the province's border crossings increased 21.5%. Border-zone (hushi) trade grew 30.5%, and used-car exports jumped 128%.

The China (Heilongjiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone, which has sections in Harbin, Heihe and Suifenhe, handled CNY 69.98 billion in trade, up 36.8%. The province has adopted a three-year upgrade plan for the zone covering 2026–2028. It includes trade facilitation, cross-border e-commerce, repair of imported equipment in Heihe and a parallel car import pilot in Suifenhe.

The Heihe pedestrian border crossing has also passed national inspection and is ready to open. Over the 15th Five-Year Plan period, Heilongjiang aims to move from a transit economy towards processing of imported and exported goods.

Editor's note

Heilongjiang's push to process goods rather than just move them through creates openings for Russian-Chinese joint ventures in timber, grain and food processing. Companies in automotive and repair services should look at the Suifenhe and Heihe pilot zones.