OREANDA-NEWS Russia and China have agreed to launch negotiations on updating the intergovernmental agreement on the promotion and mutual protection of investments, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko said on Wednesday at the opening of the 14th China-Northeast Asia EXPO.

"Today we have 79 investment projects worth $ 165 billion in the fields of mining and processing of minerals, construction of infrastructure facilities, development of agriculture," Chernyshenko said in a video message to the EXPO participants.

He noted that "the Russian-Chinese investment cooperation plan makes the conditions for investors to work even more comfortable, and we have reached the final stage of updating it with our Chinese colleagues."

"We also agreed to launch negotiations on updating the agreement between the governments of our countries on the promotion and mutual protection of investments. It is important that most regions of Russia and provinces of China are involved in cooperation, this is a powerful incentive to create new growth points and improve the welfare of our citizens," he said.

In the coming days, the Deputy Prime Minister added, "you will be able to personally see this and take an active part in building up cooperation in such promising areas as gas and petrochemicals, transport and infrastructure, green economy and high technologies."

"We see great opportunities in the field of sustainable development and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Russia consistently implements the climate agenda both within the country and in the international arena," he added.