Belarus and China agree to strengthen trade and security cooperation

Belarus and China have announced plans to strengthen their cooperation in several areas, including energy, finance, trade and security.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the agreement was reached during a meeting between Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko in Minsk..

The joint statement is said to have set out the intentions to “deepen bilateral trade and investment cooperation” and “expand interbank credit and financial cooperation and bilateral financial interaction.”

Both countries wanted to increase the use of local currencies in their economic transactions. Beijing and Minsk are also likely to increase the share of local currencies in bilateral trade, investment, credit and other economic operations, and plan to create an effective settlement system in national currencies for their business entities.

Belarus wants to deepen cooperation with China’s Greater Bay Area, an economic region that includes nine major cities, including Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai, where many Chinese technology companies have their headquarters.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry reports that China is Belarus’ second-largest trading partner and the largest in Asia. Trade between the two countries exceeded $8.4 billion last year.

The two countries also agreed to enhance security cooperation. Both sides will reportedly strengthen cooperation in defense, justice, law enforcement and security, including training of military personnel, and jointly combat cybercrime and transnational crime.

The meeting follows Li’s recent state visit to Russia, his first as China’s prime minister. Belarus and China remain key allies of Russia, while Western sanctions increasingly isolate Moscow on the international stage.

Belarus joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a Eurasian political, economic and defense organization led by Russia and China, on July 4. On July 8, Chinese and Belarusian militaries conducted joint military exercises near the Ukrainian and Polish borders.

Although China remains officially neutral in Russia’s war in Ukraine and denies providing lethal aid to Moscow, Beijing and Moscow continue to strengthen ties.

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