In recent years, the two countries have been expanding cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping. One project is Russia's largest container cargo terminal, now under construction in the Moscow region. It is a joint venture between Russian state-owned railway, or RZD, and Chinese Liaoning Port. CGTN's Aljosa Milenkovic visited the construction site and filed this report.

Just 73 kilometers from Moscow's Red Square is the village of Belyy Rast. A container rail cargo terminal is being built in its vicinity. Dozens of heavy machinery are permanently changing the landscape here.

Workers are connecting rebars and making steel frames before hundreds of tons of concrete are poured over them. Yet part of the work at the construction site is temporarily suspended, waiting for the 500 kV electric lines to be moved away.

ALJOSA MILENKOVIC MOSCOW REGION "At this moment it doesn't look much, but as investors are saying, by the end of this year, the terminal will become operational. They are expecting that by 2022 it will be fully completed, distributing containers sent between China and Europe."

The Russian Railways considers the Belyy Rast as some kind of pilot project which, if successful, can be used as a model to build other similar, but smaller container cargo terminals across Russia.

Officials say an estimated 600 thousand tons of cargo will be operated annually at Belyy Rast terminal when it reaches its full capacity, serving customers in both Europe and Asia.

SERGEY GRISHIN GENERAL MANAGER, RZD TERMINAL "This terminal will be a center for cargo transport. It will provide service to all companies in the Moscow Region. Besides that, it will be used to assemble container trains for sea ports; meaning, we will collect cargo and send it to the ports, and also collect cargo from the ports and send them to users."

Chinese partners are investing 150 million USD in this project which is expected to turn the area into a very important transportation hub linking the East and the West. That investment came from over 6,000 km away Port Liaoning.

MA YUNCHI, GENERAL MANAGER TLC BELYY RAST (RZD SUBSIDIARY) "This project of the Belyy Rast logistics center is in line with the needs of the 'Belt and Road Initiative' and the strategic linkage of the Eurasian Economic Union. Currently, the Sino-Russian-European container trains are developing rapidly, and the Belyy Rast Logistics Center is adapted to the current logistics and trade market. The demand has good development prospects and benefit expectations."

According to analysts, railway development projects always bring progress to not only the surrounding areas, but to the entire nation.

Russia, as the main and best land connection between Europe and China, looks forward to the benefits of this project too.

TARAS IVCHENKO, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR DIRECTOR, RSUH CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE "For Russia, the best conditions would be those that help the development of its territory, as well as scientific, technical, industrial and educational systems. Meaning, if this project is not used only as a facilitator of transit, but also for self-development, then this is very useful for Russia."

Belyy Rast is seen by both sides as potentially very beneficial, since it will be able to help develop businesses connected to the cargo terminal.

Aljosa Milenkovic, CGTN, Belyy Rast in Moscow region.