MINSK, 1 October (BelTA) – Belarus and China have strategic relations, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said in a press conference for Russian regional mass media on 1 October. “Our relations with China are strategic. We have very good relations. We will not damage them. We will be building up this resource,” Alexander Lukashenko said. The president mentioned his plans to visit China in the near future to meet with President Hu Jintao of the People’s Republic of China and other top officials of the country. “We will continue extending our cooperation. We will do everything possible to make China’s presence in Belarus stronger. We benefit from it. China comes to Belarus with high-technology projects. We welcome it. A low level is not for us, as they will be unable to compete both in Europe and Belarus,” the Belarusian head of state noted. “We have big joint companies producing MAZ, BelAZ and MTZ products in China. They have opened their market for us,” Alexander Lukashenko added. According to the president, Russia is concerned about the relations between Belarus and China. For instance, they see problems in the Chinese investment in our country, predict misunderstanding. “China brings investment here. I should say that today, if to compare the investment of China and Russia in Belarus, Russia’s investing is much higher than Chinese. But China just starts coming to the Belarusian market. And we are glad that happens. Among the recent agreements is China’s $1-billion preferential loan to upgrade Belarusian power plants and construct a flight strip. $15 billion more loans have been allocated to implement a range of other projects,” Alexander Lukashenko said. “Why should we reject these loans? We need them. What’s wrong with that? We have not produced microwave ovens before, we have not produced this amount of vacuum cleaners. The same concerns the whole range of household appliances apart from washing machines and refrigerators. China is ready to put funds in their production here. Microwave ovens were just the first project. Then will go vacuum cleaners, air conditioners, heaters, etc.” he said. Alexander Lukashenko added: “They ask nothing in return. They are just asking to invest in the existing companies and construct new. They pay taxes. There is no need for Russia to feel tense about it. We are not closed for Russia. Russian companies, rich companies, the Russian state could make their presence stronger here. Although it could not be stronger. Today seven out of ten largest banks of Russia present here”. “We do not close anything for your investment, but at the same time we are not going to give you anything for free,” the President of Belarus stressed. БЕЛТА
Written by belta.by
