MINSK, 18 October (BelTA) – Belarus intends to step up cooperation with China in science, technology, and innovations. Chairman of the State Committee on Science and Technology of Belarus Sergei Shlychkov made the statement as he met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of China to Belarus Zhang Wenchuan, BelTA has learned.
Sergei Shlychkov said: “Belarus and China are all-weather all-round strategic partners. Both parties strongly support each other on the matters that affect core interests of both parties. Bilateral cooperation in various fields advances all the time. It is totally true with regard to the sphere of scientific, technological, and innovative cooperation.”
He remarked that contemporary Belarus is an industrially developed country with an open and export-oriented economy. The contribution of high-tech and science-intensive products to the overall export volume totaled 39.5% in 2023. The country has a well-developed manufacturing sector, a rapidly growing services sector, agriculture, a high level of development of human capital. The state policy is aimed at facilitating the formation of an environment conducive to innovative activities. Belarus is a member of the Union State of Belarus and Russia, the Eurasian Economic Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Advancing relations with BRICS is part of near-term plans.
“Scientific efforts are maintained at the highest level in our country. At present we are working on determining priority avenues of scientific, R&D, and innovative activities for 2026-2030 and till 2045. This work relies on the comprehensive forecast of scientific and technical advance the State Committee on Science and Technology has worked out. The forecast is a fundamental document of the system of forecasting and planning of Belarus’ social and economic development. The state policy in the sphere of scientific, R&D, and innovative activities is primarily realized through tasks and projects within the framework of government R&D programs (14 are in progress this year) and the state program on innovation-driven development,” the chairman of the State Committee on Science and Technology noted.
The committee places special emphasis on the development of domestic sophisticated technologies. A lot of attention is paid in Belarus to the development of the innovative infrastructure, which enables the transfer of R&D results to the manufacturing sector. A network of 16 technology parks covers all the regions. Apart from that, six technology transfer centers and 94 industry-specific labs operate in the country. “I am convinced that in the course of fulfilling your duties in Belarus you will be able to get more intimately familiar with our sphere of science and technologies. We are ready to offer you such opportunities,” Sergei Shlychkov added.
“I’d like to point out that the State Committee on Science and Technology and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China have established systemic work to advance Belarus-China interaction. Thanks to joint efforts of our government agencies R&D cooperation was substantially expanded in the last few years. In August 2024 as part of an official visit of Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Li Qiang to Belarus a list of new joint R&D projects was adopted. The projects are authorized to be funded in 2024-2026. The number includes 20 projects in the area of information and communication technologies, biotechnologies and healthcare, mechanical engineering, new materials. Events dedicated to the Years of Belarus-China Cooperation in Science, Technology, and Innovations (2024-2025) have been launched,” the chairman of the State Committee on Science and Technology pointed out.
In his words, Belarus’ R&D cooperation with China has been successful in a very large number of areas. A cycle of 35 joint projects focusing on the areas the two countries are most strongly interested in will be finished this year. “Such great work could not be so efficient without assistance of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Belarus and without personal support of the ambassador, his participation in the events that have been held. There is no doubt that we hope that fruitful cooperation with the Chinese embassy will continue,” Sergei Shlychkov stressed.
In his opinion, further enhancement of R&D and innovative cooperation between Belarus and China, invigoration of the mutual transfer of technologies, and efforts to improve the efficiency of assimilation of R&D results into the main branches of the economy should become priority tasks for the near future.
As part of the Years of Belarus-China Cooperation in Science, Technology, and Innovations plans have been made to arrange a contest of flagship R&D projects in 2025-2026 in such areas as information and communication technologies, cutting-edge manufacturing technologies, and new materials. The selected large-scale joint projects are supposed to result in cutting-edge technologies and the establishment of joint ventures or centers of industrial technologies based on them.
Apart from that, Belarus and China will continue working to develop the joint innovative infrastructure, to create and develop Belarusian-Chinese cooperation platforms: joint labs, centers, and organizations.
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