A month long culture fair is now being held in China's northeastern city of Heihe and in Blagoveshchensk, the administrative center of Russia's Amur Oblast. Reporter Xu Xinchen visited Heihe and found out that the Chinese border city is enjoying greater economic ties with Russia through cultural exchanges.

21-year-old Artem has been studying Wushu or Chinese martial arts for 13 years.

ZAGIBALOV ARTEM WUSHU PRACTITIONER "Wushu is now a popular sport in Russia, and it is really cool. I fell in love with it after trying it out."

As a world Wushu champion, Artem has met plenty of Wushu masters. This time he's not here for a competition, but a performance in the border city of Heihe, the site of the Ninth annual Sino-Russia Culture Fair. And Wushu performed by both Russian and Chinese martial artists is just one highlight of this year's fair.

ZHANG CHAO, STUDENT HEIHE UNIVERSITY "There was a float parade during the opening ceremony and my school had a float in it. And Russian painters are also visiting my school."

BOROVSKIKH TATIANA RUSSIAN VISITOR "I saw matryoshka dolls, dolls made from wool, as well as paintings on cypress. These are all very Russian."

This year's fair lasts a month and has over 20 different events including performances, culture and travel as well as high-level forums.

XU XINCHEN HEIHE, HEILONGJIANG PROVINCE "Just across the river, it is Russia's Amur Oblast- a traditional outpost of trade for Russia. Similar events to exhibit Chinese culture are also being held there. While the culture fair spurs people from both countries to learn more about each other, local city officials also hope that this kind of cultural exchange could help enhance economic ties. And it seems it's starting to work."

CHEN XIAOJIE VICE MAYOR OF HEIHE "We are hoping to boost the economic development and social interaction between Heilongjiang Province and its Russian counterparts. Through cooperation and exchanges over the past few years, the two sides have reached mutual trust, and now we can meet and talk about issues in a timely manner."

Almost 95% of Heihe's exports went to Russia last year, and the city's border trade rose over 30% year-on-year in 2017. And for our Wushu champion Artem and his troupe, they hope that closer ties could one day help them find mentors from Chinese Wushu teams to help them improve in the sport. XXC, Heihe, Heilongjiang Province.