Belarus to host 650,000 Chinese nationals 720 13.12.2012, 13:19

The information about Belarus's plans to issue 650,000 work visas to citizens of China has been confirmed.

The Chinese-Belarusian industrial park outside Minsk will be constructed by 650,000 Chinese citizens, who already received work visas. The number of Chinese workers enough for a provincial Chinese town are expected to arrive in the small town of Smalyavichy close to the Belarusian capital. If it happens, one of 15 people in Belarus will be a Chinese. A source of Gazeta.ru in the Belarusian government confirmed the information about the inflow of Chinese migrant workers. The Belarusian MFA officially refutes the information.

The Belarusian authorities plan hire Chinese workers to build a huge industrial park outside Minsk.

Residents of villages and summer houses of the Smalyavichy district sent an open letter to Alyaksandr Lukashenka in February 2012 asking to review the plans of construction of Belarus's largest industrial park in the district.

Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovoch said at the presentation of the project: “Something more interesting than Skolkovo will appear near Smyalyavichy.”

In December 2011, the Belarusian Council of Minister ratified the agreement providing for construction of an industrial park on a plot of land of 80 square metres near Minsk-2 airport along Moscow-Brest highway on the money of Chinese investors. Interests of Chinese partners are represented by China CAMC Engineering Co Ltd. According to the Minsk city executive committee, it promises to be the most large-scale project in the country. The initial sum of investments was to reach 30bn dollars.

In spite of protests of local residents, Lukashenka signed decree No. 253 “On Chinese-Belarusian Industrial Park”, under which a special economic zone with a special legal status for 50 years will be created.

The Belarusian-Chinese Industrial Park will be located on the territory equal to that of Vitebsk, a regional centre in Belarus. It is planned to construct an industrial centre focusing on electronics engineering, fine chemistry, biomedicine and mechanical engineering.