The Chinese government has decided to provide Belarus with a soft loan amounting to $1 billion for implementation of joint projects as well as to grant 70 million Chinese yuans, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China Wu Bangguo stated in a meeting between the Chinese parliamentary delegation and the Belarusian National Assembly on 17 September.

A memorandum of cooperation between the Parliaments of China and Belarus was also signed during the meeting.

The official visit of the Chinese parliamentary delegation to Belarus led by Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China Wu Bangguo will last till 20 September.

The trade and economic cooperation between Belarus and China has been vibrant in the recent years. From 2005 to 2010 the two countries managed to triple mutual trade to $2.3 billion. In January-July this year China ranked sixth in Belarus’ total foreign trade (the third place in Belarus’ import and ninth in its export). Belarus’ main imports from China include high-technology goods, raw material and component parts for its export-based industries.

In 2009-2010 Belarus intensified work on setting up joint companies in order to boost deliveries of its products to the Chinese market. In 2009 a joint company to assemble and repair BelAZ dump trucks and a joint venture to assemble forage harvesters together with Gomselmash were registered in China. In August 2010 an assembling plant for MTZ tractors was opened in Harbin.

Credit lines totaling $15 billion have been approved with Chinese banks to finance the joint investment projects. Large-scale projects are underway in the energy sector (upgrading works at CHP-2 and CHP-5 plants), telecommunications, construction, transport, mechanic and instrument engineering, agriculture and light industry.


Belta