Presidents of Belarus and China meet in Samarkand

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and Chairman of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping met in Samarkand, where the leaders arrived to participate on September 15-16 in the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as BelTA reports.

The head of state met with President Xi Jinping 11 times: during his visits to China in 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, on the fields of Tashkent (2016), Astana (2017), Bishkek (2019) summits of the SCO, as well as during the visit of Xi Jinping to Belarus in 2015.

In September 2016, the leaders of Belarus and China established a relationship of trust-based comprehensive strategic partnership and mutually beneficial cooperation. An agreement in principle was reached to upgrade to "iron brotherhood, exemplary all-round strategic cooperation and all-weather partnership.

On December 3, 2021, Presidential Directive No 9 "On the development of bilateral relations between the Republic of Belarus and the People's Republic of China" was signed in order to address the priority tasks of developing relations with Beijing and bring the practical cooperation to a qualitatively new level.

The main points of export growth are potash fertilizers, frozen beef, meat and edible by-products of poultry, longitudinally sawn timber, condensed and dried milk and cream, specific goods, and whey of milk. There is a clear advantage in the structure of the Belarusian export in the supply of food and agricultural products. Belarus is in the top 10 suppliers to China of potash (3rd place), dairy whey (5th place), meat products (chicken and beef (7th and 9th place), rapeseed oil (11th place).

As of August 1, 2022 162 Belarusian manufacturers were accredited to supply their products to China. 63 companies produce dairy products, 18 supply frozen beef, 11 frozen chicken meat, 9 frozen berries, 7 processed fish products. More than 20 producers represent confectionery, alcoholic beverages and other food industries.

According to the results of 2021, the volume of investments from China in Belarus amounted to $109.2 million (104.5% compared to 2020), including direct investments - $74.8 million (137.6%). This year there has been a significant increase in investment activity.

In 2021, more than 50 investment projects (44 of them in the Great Stone) were implemented with the participation of Chinese companies in Belarus. The industrial park accounted for the main inflow of investments. All participants invested $753.7 million in the project. The share of budget investment is minimal - 5%, or about $35.6 million. In order to improve the legal regulation and investment climate of the industrial park, a presidential decree was adopted on 11 June 2021 to expand activities, support startups and create preferential conditions for large investment projects. As of August 10, 2022, 93 residents from 15 countries, including 46 with Chinese capital, are registered at Great Stone. The total amount of declared investments is $1.25 billion. 8 new residents are registered in 2022, including 4 with Chinese capital.

Cooperation with China is also actively developing in the credit and financial sphere. The Chinese government loans under the existing loan agreements were used to implement 25 projects to the total amount of almost $4.73 billion and four projects worth $2.26 billion are currently underway.

A number of projects in the field of technical and economic assistance is also being implemented. Three key directions of cooperation were determined in the medium term till 2025: the projects "National Football Stadium" and "International Standard Swimming Pool"; support of the development of the Great Stone Industrial Park; assistance to stability and security.