A RMB5bn (US$800m, €706m, £530m) Russian-themed amusement park will open in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China, in 2017, according to China’s official news agency Xinhua.

The cultural theme park, referred to by Xinhua as the Sino-Russia Friendship Park, is the brainchild of Harbin Volga Manor Cultural Tourism Co Ltd, which runs a Russian-themed resort, hotel and cultural park in Harbin. Volga Manor currently has a 94 per cent review rating on Tripadvisor.

The new park is reportedly to built around the site of Volga Manor. Heilongjiang, China’s most northeasterly province, shares its northern border with Russia. Harbin, its capital, is famous for annual its Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival.

Wei Minfang, general manager with the Harbin Volga Manor Cultural Tourism, told Xinhua that the 500-hectare (1,235-acre) Friendship Park would take six years to complete, with phase one opening in 2017.

"The park, based on the history of Harbin City with the theme of Russia culture, will become a new landmark for Sino-Russia cultural tourism," Wei said.