The state visit of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko to China will herald the transition from credit and investment cooperation to direct investments, BelTA learned from Deputy Head of the Belarus President Administration Nikolai Snopkov on 28 September.

Nikolai Snopkov said that cumulative investments over the last five years nearly quadrupled in comparison with the previous five-year term. China's foreign direct investments soared by ten times in the last five years. “Progressive advancement is obvious. The capacity of the markets and the ability of our enterprises to get Chinese companies to become part of their manufacturing cooperation schemes are something to think about. This is why among other things the visit will herald the transition from credit and investment cooperation to direct investments,” said the Deputy Head of the Belarus President Administration.

“We've been weighing up each other for some time, putting more focus on credit and investment cooperation. Time has come for the mutual penetration of the private sectors,” stressed Nikolai Snopkov.

According to the source, the fact that Belarus participated as a guest of honor in the fifth China-Eurasia Expo that took place in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwestern China on 20-25 September confirms the interest of Chinese investors in Belarus. “Belarus and Urumqi are two nodal platforms on the way of the Silk Road Economic Belt. The matter was thoroughly discussed with colleagues from Urumqi, in particular, ways and potential for interaction between the two nodal platforms of the Silk Road Economic Belt. The Chinese government has adopted a special program to develop Urumqi as a hub of the economic belt. People over there are interested in working together with Belarus.”

Nikolai Snopkov also noted that the similar views of the leaders of Belarus and China on the need to advance integration process on a larger scale also contribute to the joint work on promoting the Silk Road Economic Belt project. In particular, Nikolai Snopkov mentioned Alexander Lukashenko's integration of integrations concept. “In other words, the ideology of the two leaders is getting implemented in real life as the joint construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt,” he said.