But although there is hardly a non-Chinese in sight, this isn't China -- it's the second biggest city in the Russian Far East, Khabarovsk.

The gigantic Vyborgsky Market on the city outskirts sells everything from radios to fishing rods and is graphic evidence of the trade ties that have developed between Russia and China over the last decade.

Ta Wei, proudly polishing the kitchenware he sells at his stall, is one of hundreds of Chinese traders selling on imported China-made goods to willing Russian consumers.

"I came here to work two years ago as back home there are too many people fighting for too few jobs," said the 23-year-old, who like many of the traders comes from the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin.

"But here there is a great opportunity as the Russians are not so good at mass producing consumer goods, so we import ours which are cheaper," he said in fluent but heavily-accented Russian.

The market, the size of several football pitches and containing both open-air stalls and shops, appears like a slice of China transported to Russia save for some Russian cashiers and early morning shoppers.

Indeed, the economic influence of Russia's fast-growing neighbour is one of the main points that differentiates a city in the Russian Far East like Khabarovsk from its counterparts in European Russia.

The architecture of the city, with long avenues of Soviet apartment blocks interrupted by the occasional belle epoque building and golden-domed Orthodox Church, is hardly different to European Russia.

One major difference is on the roads -- the familiar Russian-made brands of Lada or Volga are nowhere to be seen, with locals preferring to drive cars imported from Japan or South Korea.

During this week's EU-Russia summit in the city, local officials were keen to point out that three-quarters of foreign investment in the region -- mainly in the energy sector -- now comes from Europe.

But the fact remains that Asian countries still account for the lion's share of trade.

According to local customs figures, China accounted for 35 percent of the Russian Far East region's total imports in 2008, followed by Japan with 29 percent.

Of exports -- chiefly energy, oil products and timber -- South Korea accounted for 37 percent, Japan 28 percent and China 12.1 percent.

That is hardly surprising when Khabarovsk is eight hours by air from Moscow but is close enough to China for a day trip and only a short hop from Seoul or Tokyo by plane.

"The future development of the Russian Far East will depend not so much on the European Union but on countries of the Asia-Pacific," President Dmitry Medvedev declared during his summit visit this week.

"After all, the emblem of our country is a two-headed eagle," he added.

--- 'The government has no right' ---

-------------------------------------

But having an economic orientation sharply different to European Russia has not saved Khabarovsk and the rest of the Far East region from the economic crisis that hit the entire country so hard.

Russia's overall trade with China, which Moscow has worked hard to expand, plunged in the first quarter this year by 42 percent from the year earlier to 7.3 billion dollars amid the economic crisis.

According to Medvedev's special envoy for the Far East region, Viktor Ishayev, unemployment has risen to 135,000 from 103,000 at the start of the year.

With a third of Russia's territory but barely five percent of its population, the energy-rich region has always had to work hard to generate activity, a problem compounded by downward demographic trends.

Meanwhile, one aspect of the region's tilt towards the Asia Pacific has also alarmed the federal authorities in the economic crisis and caused unprecedented tensions with Moscow.

With the domestic Russian car industry in grave trouble, the Moscow government hiked tariffs on imported cars in a bid to put Far Easterners off their preferred imported Japanese and Korean brands.

Throughout the Far East, the decision proved hotly controversial but rare anti-government protests in Khabarovsk and Vladivostok failed to win concessions from Moscow.

Pavel Minakir, head of economic research at the Far East department of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said trade volumes with Japan would not be the only factor affected by the tariff hike.

"There will also be an important knock-on effect on transport as sea transport is greatly involved in this trade.

"There will be an effect on the ports. And on top of that a negative effect on consumers," he told local newspaper Biznes Vesti.

Look in any car park in Khabarovsk and the only vehicles present are brands like Toyotas and Nissans. Despite government incentives, Russian models are elusive.

"The people here don't like the authorities in Moscow. The government doesn't want us to buy Japanese cars. But they are cheaper and the quality is better," fumed one taxi driver, Eduard.

"The government has no right to tell me what I should drive."

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