Xinhua News Agency, Vladivostok, January 1 (Reporter Sun Ping) - The international advanced development zone was officially launched in Russia's Far East on the 1st, providing preferential conditions for foreign investors.

The Russian federal law on establishing international advanced development zones in the Far East came into effect on the 1st. In a recent exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency, the Russian Minister of Development for the Far East and Arctic, Chekunkov, stated that this new preferential system of international advanced development zones will provide long-term stability guarantees for enterprises settling in. Tax and regulatory conditions will remain unchanged throughout the entire project cycle, which can last up to 15 years. Enterprises can enjoy preferential conditions such as a zero income tax rate for 10 consecutive years.

Chikunkov said that the minimum investment amount for enterprises settling in the International Advanced Development Zone is 500 million rubles (approximately 79 rubles per US dollar), and the settled enterprises must produce high value-added products or carry out projects on a specific list approved by the Russian government.

According to Chekunkov, currently, the location selection for investment projects in the international advanced development zones is being considered within five administrative entities in Russia's Far East, including the Primorskiy krai, the Khabarovsk krai, the Amur region, the Transbaikal krai, and the Jewish Autonomous Oblast. Among them, the Primorskiy krai will carry out one of the pilot projects for the international advanced development zones, namely the Sino-Russian Agricultural Cooperation Pilot Demonstration Zone, to build an industrial cluster including agricultural product processing plants, agricultural machinery manufacturing plants, grain transportation docks, and so on.

Editor: Jiang Yani