Glazyev: The Union State has two options of cooperation with China

According to Sergey Glazyev, after the imposition of sanctions by unfriendly countries, foreign trade with Russia and, to a large extent, Belarus has expanded from West to East.

"In 2021-2023, China’s share of total EAEU imports rose from 27% to 47%, and the unfriendly NATO countries fell from 54% to 32%. The flow of Russian raw materials and energy has shifted from West to East. China and India’s imports of Russian goods (oil, petroleum products, coal, gas, metals, timber) in 2021-2025 almost doubled (from 60 to 115 billion dollars) and increased sixfold (from 9 to 55 billion dollars), respectively", - noted Glazyev.

Secretary of State of the Union State emphasized that China became the main trading partner of the Union State, essentially taking the place of the EU, with which trade was dismantled by the fault of Western sanctions.

"Some part of the European imports have been replaced by domestic production. But, overall, our economy’s position on the Eurasian division of labor has changed little. The Chinese economy, due to its technological superiority, is mainly interested in importing Russian raw materials and entering the Union State's market, where it competes with domestic products. There are contradictions in this area, which can be overcome through the development of production cooperation. Operating in Belarus, the industrial park "Great Stone" is a good platform for hosting joint ventures built into the cooperation chains of domestic industry. Another good example is the use of Chinese microelectronic components in domestic mechanical engineering", - said Sergey Glazyev.

He also noted that the structure of the Belarusian economy is more similar to Chinese.

"The system of management of economic development is based on strategic planning, state regulation directs entrepreneurial activity to increase production and national welfare, for the same purposes are regulated prices, monetary circulation and access to resources. The public sector occupies a significant place; at the same time, the state directs the activities of the banking system for the purposes of lending to the growth of production and investment. The main industry is manufacturing. Common development institutions could be created to lend to joint production in the market not only of the Union State and the EAEU, but also of third countries. Build on China’s experience in pursuing promising development through a combination of strategic planning, targeted low-cost long-term investment lending, and creative entrepreneurship. We have scientific and technological capabilities that allow us to develop the most advanced technology in the world," - emphasized Secretary of State of the Union State.

As an example, he cited the products of the Belarusian holding BELAZ, which, with the help of Russian and Chinese developments, can be brought to a qualitatively new stage of development.

"BELAZ is a world leader in the production of heavy-duty dump trucks. Moscow scientists have knowledge on the extraction and chemical binding of natural hydrogen, which could become a leading new energy carrier in the next technological paradigm. Chinese engineers make the world’s best fuel cells that generate electricity by consuming hydrogen. Our shared international and national development institutions provide long-term concessional loans for promising projects. Together we could create the most efficient dump truck in the world for the mining industry, further spreading this technology to other sectors of transport engineering , - summed up Sergei Glazyev.

Read the full version of the interview on the Evrazimut website.