BEIJING, 15 May (BelTA) – Chinese businessmen have plans to invest more than $1.2 billion in the Belarusian food processing industry, Belarusian Agriculture and Food Minister Leonid Zayats told reporters on 14 May, BelTA has learned.
“The Agriculture and Food Ministry and one of the largest Chinese companies have signed a document declaring the intention to invest around $1 billion in our economy. The Chinese are interested in products made in Belarus. They want to get them from the country they trust as part of the import substitution effort,” Leonid Zayats said.
Another Chinese corporation said it would like to invest in the construction of facilities to produce milk in Vitebsk Oblast. The milk will be processed at Belarusian dairy plants and then shipped to China. The project is estimated at $200 million. “The matter was considered several times with the participation of Chinese investors in Belarus, and we reached total understanding. The Chinese themselves showed their desire to invest money,” the minister noted.
Leonid Zayats emphasized that Belarusian food products are very popular in China thanks to their high quality and high organic content.
Several Belarusian enterprises signed $13 million worth of contracts with Chinese companies to supply dairy products on 14 May. Those were Dairy Company, Meat Dairy Company, Savushkin Product, Bellakt, Babushkina Krynka, and Kalinkovichi Dairy Plant.
In 1Q 2017, Belarus exported around $4.2 million worth of foodstuffs to China, up by 1.5 times as against the same period last year.
