Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 9 September (BelTA) – Belarus and China have stepped up efforts to reach a new level of cooperation that will include direct investments into all spheres. Deputy Head of the Belarus President Administration Nikolai Snopkov made the statement during the seminar held on 9 September to discuss ways to couple the manufacturing potentials of Belarus and China, BelTA has learned.

Nikolai Snopkov noted: “Belarusian-Chinese relations advance all the time. So far the potential of all-round strategic partnership has been fully realized and transition to a special level of cooperation has been activated. The emotional sense of the new level of cooperation equals trust. The economic sense equals direct investments into all spheres and mutual penetration of the private sectors.”

In his words, the seminar was arranged at the threshold of a new milestone in bolstering economic cooperation and implementing deep trusting relations. “We are sketching out new pages of history in the joint development of the two countries that will be set in stone during the planned state visit of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko to the People’s Republic of China in September,” said the official.

The visit will be filled with new projects, ideas, and concrete solutions. “Two documents will be strategic within the framework of the visit. The first one determines a new level of Belarus-China cooperation. The second one unveils the essence of this cooperation,” stated Nikolai Snopkov. “A declaration on joint cooperation is the first strategic document, which is being prepared for signing. So far experts have confirmed transition to a new special level of cooperation. We expect the two heads of state to approve this approach soon. The second document is a framework agreement on advancing cooperation in the sphere of manufacturing potentials. The agreement is supposed to create new funds and mechanisms for the mutual penetration of the private sectors.”

“Belarus is open. We are ready to work together to enable new terms of interaction, new rules and laws that will allow comfortably developing joint business in Belarus and China. We are ready to create communities with the same structure together. We are ready to learn from China the experience of reforms and openness, the policy of reforming state enterprises. We are ready to learn the experience of building an innovative economy from China. Business doesn’t make us, we make business. I invite Chinese colleagues to do business in Belarus together. Let’s build the future economy of the Eurasian continent together,” suggested Nikolai Snopkov.

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 under the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Huang Danhua are in Belarus on a visit on 7-9 September. There are plans to discuss variants of cooperation between Belarusian and Chinese state-run enterprises during the visit. Joint consultations to fill the forthcoming visit of the Belarus president to China with content are part of the agenda.

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.