Business news

MINSK, 23 April (BelTA) – The company Belarus Food and Agriculture (Shanghai) Co.,Ltd. was founded in Shanghai Free-Trade Zone on 21 April, BelTA learned from Aleksei Bogdanov, head of the main department for foreign economic affairs at the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry.

“The company will be promoting Belarusian products in China. A special focus will be put on e-trade which is popular in China,” Aleksei Bogdanov remarked.

The new company is a joint project of Belarus’ Meat-Dairy Company and China’s Drex Food Group. The sides sealed a deal to establish it during the visit of Belarus’ Agriculture and Food Minister Leonid Zayats to China in December 2017.

In January-February 2018, the exports of companies affiliated with the Agriculture and Food Ministry to China went up by 79% to reach $1.55 million. According to Aleksei Bogdanov, the major export items were beef, dairy products, and flax fiber. The Belarusian companies plan to obtain certificates and start exporting poultry to China in H1 2018.

In 2017, the ministry’s companies sold $9.9 million worth of products into China, up by 10% versus 2016. The structure of exports has changed: the share of dairy products made up 5% in 2016 and grew up to 64% in 2017.