Accident came after plane took off on a training flight.
A criminal case into possible negligence was opened after the Mi-8 crashed in a mountainous area of Khabarovsk region.
More than 300 enterprises now have investment from China in this Far East region.
Many residents have refused to leave their homes because of the worst flooding since records began.
At least 30,000 homes are hit by flooding in Amur region, with Vladimir Putin ordering more emergency aid to stricken people.
With smoke having blown as far as the US and Canada, experts now say 'the trend is positive' in controlling fires raging from the Urals to the Pacific.
Illegal export was heading for China, before smuggling chain busted in major operation in Khabarovsk region.
Beijing proposes tours to neighbouring Khabarovsk region which wind the clock back to the Communist era.
The Amur River rises past 7.35 metres in Khabarovsk city, with Komsomolsk-on-Amur, and Nikolayevsk-on-Amur also braced for new flooding.
The second largest city of the Russian Far East faces nervous hours and days to see if its dikes hold back the deluge.