OREANDA-NEWS. November 06, 2012. Belarus and China have agreed to strengthen investment cooperation, which is beneficial to both parties. This is one of the results of the 13th meeting of the Belarusian-Chinese intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation held in Minsk.

According to Vice Premier of Belarus Anatoly Tozik, credit and investment cooperation between the two countries over the past year served as the basis of bilateral economic relations and was very dynamic. With the use of Chinese loans Belarus carried out important projects to upgrade the Belarusian economy. Today, the total amount of credit support from China for investment projects in Belarus stands at about USD 5.5 billion.

Over the past year many projects have been completed, some are now in the active phase, and others are just being launched. According to Anatoly Tozik, a number of joint projects that started 3 to 5 years ago have been completed. In particular, these are the upgrade projects at Minsk CHPP-2 and CHPP-5, construction of two cement factories in Grodno and Mogilev Oblasts. Some of the projects are going into the active stage of implementation: adjustment of the project documentation, supply of equipment, financial resources. This is the stage of the projects to build two 400MW units at Bereza and Lukoml state district power plants, to construct the Vitebsk hydroelectric power plant, a cement plant in Krichev, electrification of two sections of the Belarusian railways, supply of electric freight locomotive.

New projects were launched last year. Among them are the projects to construct road on the Zhlobin-Gomel highway, a bleached pulp plant.

Last year the two countries launched a number of new promising investment projects, signed new contracts and credit agreements. In particular, the parties completed the preparation for new projects such as the construction of a plant to produce coated and uncoated cardboard (in April 2012 two loan agreements were signed with the Development Bank of China for the total amount of USD348 million); construction of the Bobruisk-Zhlobin highway; development of the national satellite communication system in Belarus (a USD280.8 million loan); construction of 330kW power lines for the Belarusian nuclear power plant.

According to Anatoly Tozik, there are no problems with the projects under implementation: “Chinese companies that take part in the projects are well-known to Belarusian partners. The most important thing here is to make sure that the two sides, while signing a contract, understand their responsibility for the quality execution of the project. It pertains to both Chinese contractors and Belarusian customers.”

The work on the projects with China’s direct investment has recently intensified. Among these projects are the construction of the Peking Hotel and the Lebyazhy residential district.

Anatoly Tozik named joint companies assembling tractors and combine harvesters in Harbin as an example of successful and mutually beneficial cooperation between Belarusian and Chinese mechanical engineers.

The Vice Premier added that the two sides continue working on attracting Chinese direct investments in agriculture and food industry, setting up export-oriented flax and potato production companies in Belarus.