Minsk ratifies agreement on EAEU-China cooperation
"The agreement is aimed at simplifying trade, ... creates favorable environment for participation of Belarusian enterprises in respective production and transport chains," First Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus Andrei Yevdochenko said.
He added that the agreement is not preferential, it does not abolish or lower import duties and stipulates no automatic reduction of non-tariff items. Meanwhile, the agreement sets the norms aimed "at removing various technical barriers in our trade, at lifting sanitary, phytosanitary, veterinary barriers, protecting intellectual property, strengthening our collaborative customs relationship." The document also targets expansion of sectoral cooperation with China in the area of cutting-edge technologies, innovations, transport logistics infrastructure, First Deputy Minister noted, TASS reports.
According to Yevdochenko, expansion of the relationship with China is "a strategic area of Belarus' foreign policy." In 2017, trade turnover between the countries amounted to $360 mln. "In ten months of this year, mutual trade turnover reached $350 mln, an increase of 29%," he said.