China-Belarus Industrial Park connects Euro-Asian economies

[TaiShang]

Belarus president Lukashenko urges speed on Chinese industrial park in Minsk
11 February 2015 | By Rod Sweet

As leaders from Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine were preparing to meet in Minsk for crunch talks on the war in eastern Ukraine, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko was urging that efforts be stepped up to implement a $2bn industrial park planned near the city, funded mostly by Chinese companies.

“When will we start to build hi-tech facilities that will have an impact on the image of the Belarusian economy there?” Lukashenko (pictured) asked after hearing a progress report on 10 February, reported the Belarusian news agency BeITA.

As relations between his country and its much larger neighbour, Russia, have become strained over the Ukraine crisis, Lukashenko has been emphasising the importance of growing trade ties to China. Key to those ties is the industrial park.

“The project means billions that China is interested in,” he said in January. “In particular, China is interested in the construction of state-of-the-art enterprises over there and it means billions in revenues for Belarus. If we implement the project, we will have no problems with the gold and foreign exchange reserves or with supporting the exchange rate of the national currency.”

Lukashenko has called China-Belarus Industrial Park the country’s most important joint project and wants to speed up construction ahead of a visit from Chinese president Xi Jinping in May. He has instructed the head of the Belarus President Administration, Alexander Kosinets, to take control over construction of the park, and over Chinese-Belarusian relations in general.

The 8,000-ha park will be located in the Smolevichi district in the Minsk region, and is projected to cost approximately $2bn, Belarusian media have reported. Of that, $1.5bn is expected to come from Chinese investors. Participating companies are reported to include the conglomerate China National Machinery Industry Corp (Sinomach), and telecoms manufacturer ZTE Corporation.

Belarus has said that enterprises in machine building, chemistry, pharmaceuticals, electronics, and communications could be accommodated at the new park.

During 2014 relations with Russia became strained over the Ukraine crisis. Belarus refused to join countersanctions by Russia against the West, and then Russia temporarily banned meat imports from Belarus, blaming safety standard non-compliance.

In January Belarus introduced a new law warning that the appearance of any foreign fighters on its territory would be viewed as an act of aggression even if they could not be identified as regular troops.

 

[Shotgunner51]

I think investments in some regions of Europe should be put onhold temporarily until the tense security situation de-escalates.

 

[TaiShang]

I think investments in some regions of Europe should be put onhold temporarily until the tense security situation de-escalates.

I guess no instability in Belarus at the moment.

 

[Shotgunner51]

I guess no instability in Belarus at the moment.

Yeah that's sadly true so China has no choice but to hold back further investment.

Off-topic: Seems like Germany and France sees the urgency and the deteriorating situation is impacting on Europe/Euro, and they are trying to defuse it. However such diplomatic action may antagonize the US (not sure about UK, they are excluded from this meeting in Minsk) who is calling on tougher confrontation efforts, including firm sanctions by EU, and increasing military actions of NATO. The chance of de-escalation is gloomy.

 

[TaiShang]

Australia to benefit as China embarks on biggest-ever overseas investment program

CHINA is set to invest billions in Australia over the next year after the nation’s highest-ranking government body approved the largest ever overseas investment program.

The State Council, the Chinese equivalent of cabinet, last week gave the go ahead for China to run down its $US3 trillion ($3.9 trillion) of foreign exchange holdings to buy directly into major international infrastructure projects and ramp up exports of heavy machinery.

Most of the country’s forex reserves are held in low-yielding US Treasury reserves and China has been under pressure to diversify its holdings.

The Chinese government will give subsidies to large industrial machinery manufacturers to send products overseas to work on developments.

The Chinese government did not specify where the increased government investment would be directed, but China experts said it was likely a large portion of the money would be spent in Australia, after a free-trade agreement was signed between the two countries.

Qinghua University economics director He Maochun said it was increasingly likely China would look overseas to Australia to ramp up foreign investment.

The Coalition government has set a more favourable agenda towards overseas investment, which is believed to have encouraged the Chinese government.

The two-way trade between Australia and China is estimated to be worth at least $US130 billion a year, primarily though commodities. “The strategy is a positive sign to Australia,” Professor He told The Australian.

“The trade co-operation of the two sides has developed comparatively slowly for some ideological and political reasons.

“Australia is worried, or has tried to limit the development of China, but the two countries are very complementary in their economies.”

Professor He said China was well placed to channel investment into Australia as the Coalition aimed to fast-track major infrastructure developments. The FTA is expected to open more exports into China aside from mining. The dairy industry is likely to be the major beneficiary, as tariffs on key products are gradually reduced.

“China can provide capital, producing capacity and equipment to help Australia optimise its economic structure,” he said.

“In the long-term, the two sides could build up a closer and freer trade relationship.”

HSBC Australia’s China desk leader, Leon Li, said Australian and Chinese corporates were looking to invest in each other’s countries, especially after the FTA, signed last year.

“We are seeing increasing interest from Chinese investors, particularly in Australian ports, roads, mining and power infrastructure,” he said. “In Australia, they see the combination of significant investment opportunities, a stable political environment, a mature legal system and sustainable investment returns relative to other markets.”

Corrs Chambers Westgarth partner and China business group co-chairman Andrew Lumsden said there was a “high level of interest” out of China for Australian infrastructure projects.

He said a significant number of investors believed Australia could serve as a “test bed” for delivering social infrastructure projects. However, Chinese investors were well aware of a “very competitive market” for infrastructure financing, acquisition and construction in Australia.

“Obviously the relative performance of the currency is a major issue in long-term, low-yield assets. That means you’ve got to take a view about the Australian dollar long-term and the views on that are as mixed and varied as there are people in China,” Mr Lumsden said.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch chief economist Saul Eslake said infrastructure “requires a lot of capital and the Chinese have got a lot of it”.

“You would think there is a lot of infrastructure investment required in Australia and some indications that governments want it done in ways that don’t involve government borrowing.

“It’s not unreasonable to think that the Chinese would think there are opportunities here.”

Mr Eslake said there was an “unresolved” issue about the extent to which Foreign Investment Review Board vetting was required for investments by state-owned enterprises. Under the FTA, the issue of FIRB review of investments by SOEs will be reviewed in three years.

He said there could be “popular opposition — that is, unease in the community to selling what some people might portray as vital infrastructure to the Chinese”.

Infrastructure Partnerships Australia CEO Brendan Lyon said China was a “very attractive partner”. This was because of the move to trade liberalisation, the government’s “clear statements about an appetite for Chinese investment”, the scale of projects that needed to be delivered and privatisations.

“If you look at the pace, scale and innovation of China’s rollout of metro systems in it major capitals, its high-speed rail network and its massive urban redevelopment project, it’s clear China’s got both experience and significant intellectual property that can be applied to our benefit here in Australia,” Mr Lyon said.

“If we are able to clearly outline the opportunity, then we should be able to see significant competition from Chinese investors alongside European and North American investment, and that can only be to our benefit.”

He said as the proposed privatisations and new projects were of a “very high” quality and would be attractive to China’s private investors and state-owned enterprises, specific incentives would not be needed.

 

[TaiShang]

China-Belarus Industrial Park connects Euro-Asian economies
By Li Xiaohua & Wu Jin
China.org.cn, December 5, 2016

The construction of the 3.5-square-kilometer China-Belarus Industrial Park is almost complete in Belarus. The first phase of the industrial park, equipped with a four-lane highway, underground sewage pipelines and electric and telecommunication wires, is scheduled to open to a number of Chinese enterprises including ZTE Corporation and Huawei. [Photo by LiXiaohua / China.org.cn]

The construction of the 3.5-square-kilometer China-Belarus Industrial Park is almost complete in Belarus, Li Haixin, the manager of the park revealed during a press conference held in Minsk, capital of Belarus on Dec. 2.

The first phase of the industrial park, equipped with four-lane highways extending as long as 11 kilometers, underground sewage pipelines and electric and telecommunication wires, will open to a number of Chinese enterprises including ZTE Corporation and Huawei.

"Since the election of Alexander G. Lukashenko as its first president in 1994, Belarus is one of the few former members of the Soviet Union to maintain political stability," Cui Qingming, the Chinese ambassador to Belarus said through his interview with China.org.cn.

"Moreover, it has sustained social stability with low crime rates and a small wealth gap of approximately 0.28 of Gini coefficient," Cui continued.

As one of the countries that show friendly gestures to China, Belarus has by no means taken China's rise as an impending threat. On the contrary, the country is expecting to partner with China by joining the Belt and Road Initiative. It has also set up Confucius Institutes and has made Chinese a subject of the country's Higher Education Entrance Exam, Cui introduced.

In June, 2012, Lukashenko has created one of the most investor-friendly environments by offering a 10-year-free-tax policy for enterprises registered in the park and promising a 50-percent tax cut in the next 10 years. Furthermore, the land that they have rented can be privatized for as long as 99 years.

The industrial park, when completed, is expected to increase the connectivity among Eurasian countries and sell products free of customs duties to countries including Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, with a combined total population of 170 million.

***

Trump can win the Twitter war (not the least because China does have no Twitter, but its own multi-billion micro-message companies), but, I wonder if he can win the construction, build-up and connectivity war?

Does he hold a chance under the Sun?

@+4vsgorillas-Apebane , @ahojunk , @terranMarine , @Shotgunner51 , @Dungeness

 

[ahojunk]

... I wonder if he can win the construction, build-up and connectivity war?

Does he hold a chance under the Sun?

.
No chance at all.

Everything is down to money. You can call the shots when you have truckloads of money.

If you don't, you can scream (or tweet), nobody really gives a damn.

Remember my friend - Money talks, bullshit walks.

 

[+4vsgorillas-Apebane]

Like little tendrils of root tentatively reaching out at the moment.

I just hope that the partnering countries (especially in central Asia and the middle east) keep their end of the deal and embrace the OBOR initiative and not half arse it with empty rhetoric. China can only do so much, the others have to keep their ends open for the plan to work.

So far so good.

 

[TaiShang]

Like little tendrils of root tentatively reaching out at the moment.

I just hope that the partnering countries (especially in central Asia and the middle east) keep their end of the deal and embrace the OBOR initiative and not half arse it with empty rhetoric. China can only do so much, the others have to keep their ends open for the plan to work.

So far so good.

I agree. So far the response and participation is good. Central Asia and East Europe are responding positively.

 

[TaiShang]

Donakd Duck will end up like Huey kingfisher , JFK, Lincoln, if he pushes the establishment too far. He's not as powerful as some American lackeys think he is.

I think Putin got him by the p****. Trump will behave, the first proof of it we will see in Syria.

China will expand up and down, right and left. No force can stop the power of money and industrial capability. The AIIB was a good show in this respect, but still a minor show. The big show is coming as we lay out the fundamentals of a paradigm change in global governance.

 

[TaiShang]

China-Belarus Industrial Park established
By Li Xiaohua
China.org.cn, December 6, 2016


The construction of the 3.5-square-kilometer China-Belarus Industrial Park is almost complete in Belarus. The first phase of the industrial park is equipped with a four-lane highway, underground sewage pipelines and electric and telecommunication wires, is scheduled to open to a number of Chinese enterprises including ZTE Corporation and Huawei. [Photo by Li Xiaohua / China.org.cn]


The construction of the 3.5-square-kilometer China-Belarus Industrial Park is almost complete in Belarus. The first phase of the industrial park is equipped with a four-lane highway, underground sewage pipelines and electric and telecommunication wires, is scheduled to open to a number of Chinese enterprises including ZTE Corporation and Huawei. [Photo by Li Xiaohua / China.org.cn]

 

[Shotgunner51]

China-Belarus Industrial Park connects Euro-Asian economies
By Li Xiaohua & Wu Jin
China.org.cn, December 5, 2016

The construction of the 3.5-square-kilometer China-Belarus Industrial Park is almost complete in Belarus. The first phase of the industrial park, equipped with a four-lane highway, underground sewage pipelines and electric and telecommunication wires, is scheduled to open to a number of Chinese enterprises including ZTE Corporation and Huawei. [Photo by LiXiaohua / China.org.cn]

The construction of the 3.5-square-kilometer China-Belarus Industrial Park is almost complete in Belarus, Li Haixin, the manager of the park revealed during a press conference held in Minsk, capital of Belarus on Dec. 2.

The first phase of the industrial park, equipped with four-lane highways extending as long as 11 kilometers, underground sewage pipelines and electric and telecommunication wires, will open to a number of Chinese enterprises including ZTE Corporation and Huawei.

"Since the election of Alexander G. Lukashenko as its first president in 1994, Belarus is one of the few former members of the Soviet Union to maintain political stability," Cui Qingming, the Chinese ambassador to Belarus said through his interview with China.org.cn.

"Moreover, it has sustained social stability with low crime rates and a small wealth gap of approximately 0.28 of Gini coefficient," Cui continued.

As one of the countries that show friendly gestures to China, Belarus has by no means taken China's rise as an impending threat. On the contrary, the country is expecting to partner with China by joining the Belt and Road Initiative. It has also set up Confucius Institutes and has made Chinese a subject of the country's Higher Education Entrance Exam, Cui introduced.

In June, 2012, Lukashenko has created one of the most investor-friendly environments by offering a 10-year-free-tax policy for enterprises registered in the park and promising a 50-percent tax cut in the next 10 years. Furthermore, the land that they have rented can be privatized for as long as 99 years.

The industrial park, when completed, is expected to increase the connectivity among Eurasian countries and sell products free of customs duties to countries including Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, with a combined total population of 170 million.

***

Trump can win the Twitter war (not the least because China does have no Twitter, but its own multi-billion micro-message companies), but, I wonder if he can win the construction, build-up and connectivity war?

Does he hold a chance under the Sun?

@+4vsgorillas-Apebane , @ahojunk , @terranMarine , @Shotgunner51 , @Dungeness

Good news, Belarus economy get boosted, Chinese industrial capital gains cost reduction & proximity to markets. Let's continue with industrial transfer through industrial parks (and economic zones).

 

[Shotgunner51]

China-Belarus industrial park Great Stone open to international companies
28.12.2016 | 16:54

Hu Zheng​

MINSK, 28 December (BelTA) – The China-Belarus industrial park Great Stone is open to any international companies willing to set up enterprises over there. The relevant statement was made by Chief Executive Officer of SZAO Industrial Park Development Company Hu Zheng during the opening ceremony of a Chinese-Belarusian center for commercializing innovations on 28 December, BelTA has learned. Hu Zheng noted that apart from Belarusian and Chinese companies there are enterprises from Europe in the park, in particular, enterprises established by companies residing in Germany, Romania, and Austria. Hu Zheng noted that there are certain difficulties with attracting investments into the park. He noted it is important to encourage a large number of companies to set up enterprises in the park.

“I believe and hope that as the China-Belarus industrial park grows larger, as its influence and fame grow stronger, efforts to attract investments will become more successful. It is an open park. We are not building a Chinese-Belarusian park but an international one. And we welcome companies with investments from any country,” said the SZAO Industrial Park Development Company CEO.
​

Great changes have taken place in the China-Belarus industrial park Great Stone this year. The park is in the active development phase. Infrastructure in the starting area of 3.5km2 has been built.

“One can say that now the park has all the necessary conditions for attracting investments,” stressed Hu Zheng.
​

In his words, the construction of infrastructure in the first stage deployment area of 8.5km2 will continue in 2017. BelTA reported earlier that a Chinese-Belarusian center for commercializing innovations was opened in Minsk on 28 December. Taking part in the ceremony were Chairman of the State Science and Technology Committee of Belarus Alexander Shumilin, First Deputy Chairman of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Sergei Chizhik, and Chief Executive Officer of SZAO Industrial Park Development Company Hu Zheng. The center will provide support for R&D and innovative projects. It will seek investors for the sake of setting up joint manufacturing enterprises in the China-Belarus industrial park Great Stone.

Read full text at: http://eng.belta.by/economics/view/...e-open-to-international-companies-97566-2016/

 

[8888888888888]

Yeah that's sadly true so China has no choice but to hold back further investment.

Off-topic: Seems like Germany and France sees the urgency and the deteriorating situation is impacting on Europe/Euro, and they are trying to defuse it. However such diplomatic action may antagonize the US (not sure about UK, they are excluded from this meeting in Minsk) who is calling on tougher confrontation efforts, including firm sanctions by EU, and increasing military actions of NATO. The chance of de-escalation is gloomy.

Need to note down the sanctions seems to be between EU and Russia as USA doesn't appear to have any sanctions against Russia. So it looks like USA may have sabotage the economy of the EU.