PM: Belarus-China trade up 140 times over 30 years

Trade between Belarus and China has grown 140 times over 30 years, Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko said during the official negotiations with Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Li Qiang, who is in Belarus on an official visit, BelTA has learned. “Despite the difficult conditions, global turbulence and international instability, relations between our countries are on an upward trajectory. We maintain a high intensity of contacts at all levels. We support each other on fundamental issues in international and regional organizations. We support each other on fundamental issues at international and regional venues. We consistently uphold the fundamental principles of international law enshrined in the UN Charter and resolutely oppose any attempts to interpret them in an arbitrary manner. Despite the illegitimate Western sanctions, we annually hit new milestones in bilateral trade, which has grown more than 140 times over the past 30 years and reached a record 55 billion yuan in 2023," Roman Golovchenko said. In October 2023, on the sidelines of the SCO summit, the heads of government of Belarus and China exchanged views on a wide range of issues on the international and bilateral agenda. "I saw you as a like-minded person who is driven to achieve practical results. I was won over by your desire to dive deep into both into long-term aspects and current issues. This desire demonstrates a sincere intention to actively promote all-weather and comprehensive strategic cooperation between Belarus and China," the prime minister said. "We are grateful to China for the technical and economic assistance and the concessional loans which have become the basis for industrial modernization and launch of new industries and enterprises. For today's meeting, we have prepared an impressive package of agreements and arrangements for signing. These documents and the launch of several new industrial projects consolidate the plans for the long-term partnership between Belarus and China," the head of the Belarusian government stressed. In the future, Belarus sees the combination of Belarusian competencies and Chinese technologies as a key element in building a common future. "I believe that the implementation of the comprehensive strategy for joint industrial development and the preparation of detailed plans for the alignment of the industrial policy of our countries will provide concrete practical content to the new status of relations between the two countries of all-weather and comprehensive strategic partnership. Thank you for supporting Belarus’ proposal to dedicate another thematic year to cooperation in science, technology and innovation. It is gratifying that progress is being made on some issues that were discussed last year. First of all, this is the implementation of the BNBC-3 project with the help of concessional loans from the Chinese government, the purchase of medical equipment, and the increase in railway transportation," Roman Golovchenko said.