MINSK, 4 December (BelTA) – Representatives of the Chinese city of Guangzhou are interested in establishing twin city relations with a district of Minsk, representatives of the Consulate General of Belarus in Guangzhou told BelTA.
Consul General of Belarus in Guangzhou Andrei Popov met with Chairwoman of the People’s Government of Yuexiu District of Guangzhou Su Pei. The sides expressed mutual interest in establishing twin city relations between Guangzhou’s Yuexiu District and Minsk’s Oktyabrsky District.
Su Pei mentioned Yuexiu District’s interest in cooperation with Belarusian partners in many areas. In particular, the Chinese side is ready to advance contacts in healthcare, tourism, and culture.
During the talks close attention was paid to possible interaction within the framework of the China-Belarus industrial park Great Stone. The importance of this large joint project, which represents an important link in implementing China’s Belt and Road initiative, was underlined. Su Pei pointed out Yuexiu District is ready to promote the China-Belarus industrial park Great Stone among Chinese partners.
The Guangzhou consular district includes four provinces of China (Guangdong, Guizhou, Hainan, and Hunan) and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The consular district occupies 1.23 million km2 with the population of about 322 million people or roughly 23% of China’s population. The district’s capital Guangzhou is home to about 14 million people.
The regions that belong to the consular district account for nearly a quarter of China’s GDP, 40% of the direct investments, and about one third of China’s foreign trade. The main industries are automobile industry, electronic industry, petrochemical industry, metallurgy, woodworking, construction materials industry, textile industry, and food industry. Agriculture and forestry industry are well developed. Banking and finance, information technologies, transport, real estate, and tourism prevail in the sphere of services.
The main tasks of the Consulate General of Belarus in Guangzhou include the promotion of trade, economic, and investment rights, protection of legal rights and interests of Belarusian citizens, and the provision of consular services to Chinese citizens.