MINSK, 16 December (BelTA) – Food and agricultural products will be the primary drivers of Belarus' export to China, BelTA learned from an interview of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to China Yuri Senko with the SB Belarus Segodnya newspaper.
According to Yuri Senko, food and agricultural products will be the driver of Belarus' export in the near future. The share of these categories in the structure of export to China increased by over 30% over the course of one year.
In his words, competition on the Chinese market is extremely high. It is quite difficult to get the attention and win hearts of Chinese consumers. This is why there is a lot of work and undoubtedly high quality of Belarusian products behind every statistics figure.
Over 120 Belarusian enterprises have already been certified for compliance with Chinese standards. The export of products, which are comparatively new for China – milk in cartons, butter, ice cream, and sugar – is on the rise. There are also reasons to expect substantial progress in the registration of Belarusian dairy baby food, tinned food, precooked meat products and all reasons to begin genuine deliveries of dairy feed additives, the ambassador is convinced.
Products made by the potash industry, woodworking, and light industry also represent the main growth points in addition to agribusiness. Belarus is one of the top three suppliers of potash fertilizers to China, the ambassador noted.
Electronic integrating circuits, cellulose, flax, and rapeseed oil are also top Belarusian exports to China.
Yuri Senko added: “Now we intend to fill export with quality products and raise the share of products with a high added value. We see prospects for selling confectionery, tinned meat, tinned fish, alcohol and alcohol-free beverages, groceries, snacks, and so on.”
Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko signed Directive No.9 on advancing Belarus-China bilateral relations in early December. Among other things the directive provides for setting up new distribution chain entities and the relevant infrastructure. It will undoubtedly help increase export to China, the ambassador noted.
According to statistics data, in January-September 2021 Belarus' export to China totaled $948 million, 110.7% as against January-September 2020. It is a satisfactory figure particularly considering crisis phenomena caused by the pandemic in the world economy. The ratio of merchandise to services in Belarus' export in cost terms stands at roughly 70/30. There are plans to more than double the current volume over the next five years.
