China and Belarus have made solid progress in all-round cooperation

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations 31 years ago, China-Belakish relations have been continuously upgraded and all-round cooperation has been steadily promoted. Last September, during the Samarkand Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the two heads of state jointly announced that they would upgrade China-Belakish relations to an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership, realizing a historic leap in bilateral relations.

Jointly build the "the Belt and Road" to create mutually beneficial and win-win results

In recent years, the high-quality cooperation between China and Belarus in jointly building the "the Belt and Road" has continued to advance, and a large number of key projects in machinery manufacturing, automobile assembly, agricultural production, biotechnology and other fields have taken root in Belarus, effectively promoting the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations.

Located near the Minsk Airport in the capital of Belarus, the China-Belaussia Industrial Park is a busy scene. This is the largest investment attraction project in Belarus, and it is also a cooperation project of jointly building the "the Belt and Road" jointly promoted by the heads of the two countries and highly valued by the two governments. Since the beginning of substantive development in the second half of 2015, the development and construction of the industrial park has been rapidly promoted and new achievements have been made. According to the data of the National Statistical Commission of Belarus, in 2022, the net profit of enterprises in the park reached 34.1 million Belarusian rubles (about 13.51 million US dollars), an increase of 1.4 times year-on-year.

Up to now, the number of enterprises in the Zhongbai Industrial Park has reached 107, covering machinery manufacturing, e-commerce, new materials, traditional Chinese medicine, artificial intelligence, 5G network development and other fields, with an intended investment of more than US $1.3 billion. "We are optimistic about the prospect of cooperation between Belarus and China in jointly building the" the Belt and Road "." Jaroshenko, director of the China Belarus Industrial Park Management Committee, said that the park has become an important platform to attract enterprises from all countries to invest in Belarus.

In November last year, the full cycle high-tech agro-industrial complex project of the Belarusian National Biotechnology Company contracted by Chinese enterprises was officially put into operation in Minsk. This project is the first amino acid production enterprise in Belarus, and also the first export foreign exchange earning and import substitution project in its grain deep processing industry. Belarus National Biotechnology Corporation estimates that the project can produce 528000 tons of compound feed and 72300 tons of amino acid annually. Ulitski, the general manager of the company, said that the project could provide high-quality and high-value-added products, not only solving the local employment problem, but also effectively improving the scientific and technological level of white agriculture and animal husbandry.

In addition, a series of joint ventures between China and Belarus such as Belarusian Geely Automobile, Weichai Engine, Fast Transmission and Midea Horizon have filled the gap in Belarusian related industries. The analyst of the Belarusian Institute of Strategic Studies, Alf Donin, believes that the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" cooperation between Belarus and China will create more mutually beneficial and win-win results and inject strong impetus into bilateral practical cooperation.

Under the framework of jointly building the "the Belt and Road", China and Belarus have made remarkable achievements in cooperation in the field of economy, trade and investment, which has strongly promoted the economic development of Belarus. "In 2022, Chinese investors invested more than US $100 million in projects in Belarus. More than 40 projects were implemented with the participation of Chinese enterprises," said Abramanko, deputy minister of the Belarusian Ministry of Economy.

Economic and trade cooperation brings important development opportunities

According to Chinese statistics, the bilateral trade volume between China and Belarus will reach 5.08 billion US dollars in 2022, up 33% year on year, reaching a new high. In the face of the challenge of the COVID-19 epidemic, the trade volume between the two countries has grown against the trend, reflecting the resilience and great potential of bilateral practical cooperation.

China's huge market potential brings important opportunities for Belarusian enterprises. Belarus dairy products, meat, candy, chocolate and so on are popular with Chinese consumers. According to Chinese statistics, China's total imports of various agricultural products from Belarus to Russia in 2022 reached 649 million US dollars, up 51.59% year on year.

"China has always been an important trading partner in the Belarusian food industry, and we are trying to expand this market," said Meleshko, director of the General Administration of Foreign Economic Activities of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of Belarus. According to statistics, Belarus' food exports to China in 2022 increased by about 40% year-on-year, showing a good trend.

China International Import Expo has become an important platform for Belarusian enterprises to explore the Chinese market. "The Expo provides a unique opportunity for countries to display products, strengthen contacts and deepen trade cooperation." Abramanko said that China has cultivated a huge domestic market, and strengthening cooperation with China is a long-term priority for Belarus.

Belarus also actively uses e-commerce and social media platforms to promote products and constantly expand the Chinese market. In July 2022, the account of "Belarus National Pavilion" will be opened on two e-commerce platforms, Jingdong and Tiktok. According to statistics, in 2022, the total sales of the National Pavilion project reached 8.93 million yuan.

"Belarus hopes to continue to expand its exports to China and other countries." Dmitry Yarosevic, Deputy Minister of Economy of Belarus, said that China has huge market potential and Belarus has broad prospects for exports to China.

The China-EU train has promoted economic and trade exchanges between the two countries. According to the preliminary statistical data released by Belarusian Railway Company, in 2022, Belarus will ship 120000 20-foot standard containers of goods to China by railway, an increase of 5.5 times year-on-year.

"The increasing number of China-Europe trains brings opportunities for Belarus and other countries to expand trade with China." Professor Kovalev of the National University of Belarus said that with the help of China-Europe trains, Belarus' exports of agricultural and food products to China have increased significantly.

Highlights of local cooperation and people-to-people and cultural exchanges

Local cooperation between China and Belarus has embarked on a fast track of development and become a new growth point of bilateral cooperation. The number of friendly provinces, states and cities between China and Belarus has been increasing, reaching 40 pairs by the end of January this year. From 2021 to 2022, under the framework of the "Year of Local Cooperation", the two sides jointly held more than 160 colorful local cooperation and exchange activities.

The China-Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) local economic and trade cooperation demonstration zone in Qingdao has established friendly cooperative relations with Belarussia-China Industrial Park, Vitebsk Free Economic Zone, Brest Free Economic Zone and other economic parks, and has constantly explored new modes of mutually beneficial cooperation. The demonstration zone and the China-Belaussian Industrial Park have set up liaison representative offices, and the Belarusian business consulting service center is set up in the demonstration zone. In addition, the demonstration zone also regularly operates point-to-point trains to Minsk, Belarus, and the cross-border e-commerce trains to Minsk are added to two times a month, which can not only transport Chinese high-quality goods to Belarus, but also transport Belarusian characteristic goods to the Chinese market through return trains.

Vitebsk State of Belarus and Shandong Province of China are friendly provinces and states. Belorus, the vice chairman of the executive committee of the state, said that Belarus is willing to work with the Chinese side, combine the resources and industrial advantages of the two sides, continue to strengthen the relationship between sister cities and economic interaction, and jointly promote the high-quality development of the two places.

In recent years, the people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and Belarus have deepened day by day, and cooperation in education, culture, sports, media and other fields has been heating up. The two countries have successfully held "Tourism Year", "Education Year" and other theme years, and have held art festivals, cultural days, film weeks, photo exhibitions and other activities in each other's countries for many times.

China and Belarus have signed an agreement on mutual recognition of academic degrees and certificates, and carried out joint running of colleges and universities. The number of foreign students sent to each other has increased year by year. Chinese has become one of the foreign language elective subjects in the Belarusian college entrance examination. Belarusian Minister of Education Ivanetz said that there were more than 7000 Chinese students studying in Belarus and hundreds of students studying in Belarus. The two countries also cooperated to set up 6 Confucius Institutes and 2 Confucius Classrooms in Belarus. Belarus is willing to continue to carry out close cooperation with China in joint education, Chinese teaching and other aspects, and promote exchanges between the two countries in education, culture, science and technology and other fields.

"With the increasingly close cooperation between Belarus and China in the field of culture, the people of the two countries have a deeper understanding of each other." Tozik, the president of the Confucius Institute of the National University of Belarus, said that more and more Belarusian people are learning and studying the Chinese language and culture. We sincerely hope that the two countries will continue to strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges and make greater contributions to deepening bilateral relations.