Business news

MINSK, 9 September (BelTA) – Belarus has suggested a list of 25 joint-stock companies, in which Chinese companies are invited to buy shares, BelTA learned from Belarusian Deputy Economy Minister Alexander Yaroshenko before the seminar on coupling the manufacturing potentials of Belarus and China on 9 September.

A delegation of the Chinese government and a delegation of Chinese companies led by Deputy Chairwoman of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the People’s Republic of China Huang Danhua are in Belarus on a visit on 7-9 September. The Belarusian Deputy Economy Minister noted: “We regard the visit as a big step towards Chinese companies considering the possibility of becoming shareholders in our enterprises. The relevant negotiations are in progress. Our companies need it in order to get new target markets, new technologies and enterprises.”

Chinese companies have been invited to become shareholders in as many as 25 Belarusian companies. “The list includes top brands and smaller companies. Various industries are represented but, first of all, we are talking about the industrial sector, power engineering, and civil engineering. We are considering cement industry enterprises and producers of metal structures,” explained the Deputy Economy Minister.

According to Alexander Yaroshenko, among other companies the large Chinese food company COFCO is interested in cooperation with Belarusian enterprises. “It is a huge producer and seller. We believe it is interested in becoming a shareholder in a number of our enterprises such as Servolux, the Dzerzhinsk poultry factory and some other companies,” he said.

A seminar on coupling the manufacturing potentials of Belarus and China took place in Minsk on 9 September. Representatives of government agencies, companies from Belarus and China, including Chinese state-run corporations, took part in the seminar. The Chinese state-run corporations are primarily transnational companies that specialize in power engineering, mechanical engineering, and food industry. Eight of them are in the world’s top 500 companies. Participants of the seminar are supposed to discuss ways to advance bilateral manufacturing cooperation between Belarusian and Chinese companies, including by means of adding Chinese capital to the charter capital of Belarusian companies. This cooperation is believed to be able to help expand and diversify target markets, attract real investments into the development of Belarusian companies in addition to increasing their competitive ability.