A standing commission on cooperation will be established between Vitebsk and Harbin.

A permanent commission for cooperation will be established between Vitebsk and Harbin. This agreement was reached today at a meeting between Zhi Dayong, Deputy Mayor of the People's Government of Harbin (People's Republic of China), and Viktor Nikolaikin, Chairman of the Vitebsk City Executive Committee, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.

The commission will comprise specialists from various departments of the Vitebsk City Executive Committee and the Harbin administration, who will engage in interdepartmental cooperation within their respective fields, identify mutually beneficial projects, and oversee their implementation.

Areas of common interest, where active work will commence in the near future, have also been defined. In particular, the Chinese side has expressed interest in the pharmaceutical sector, specifically in establishing joint ventures for the production of medicines and veterinary drugs. To explore this matter further, members of the Chinese delegation visited OJSC "BelVitunipharm" today.

The meeting participants agreed to expand cultural contacts and promote joint projects in the field of education. Viktor Nikolaikin noted that currently, Chinese is studied in only one school in Vitebsk, Secondary School No. 44, a project implemented in cooperation with the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Belarus and the Confucius Institutes at Belarusian State University and Minsk State Linguistic University. It is planned to increase the number of such educational institutions in the regional centre in the near future. Regular exchanges of students and teachers at the secondary school level are also to be established.

Belarus and China plan to declare 2018 the Year of Tourism between the countries. Within the framework of this initiative, the meeting participants also intend to implement joint projects.

Furthermore, issues concerning the supply of meat and dairy products, as well as footwear from Vitebsk enterprises to Harbin, were discussed. The possibility of utilising Vitebsk Airport from a logistical perspective was also considered.

"We have managed to achieve consensus on many issues in culture, tourism, the pharmaceutical industry, and other areas. Short-term and long-term work projects will need to be developed for each of these directions," emphasised Zhi Dayong at the end of the meeting.

China is the second largest foreign trade partner of Vitebsk (after Russia). Foreign trade turnover for January-June amounted to approximately $30 million. More than 50 Vitebsk organizations maintain economic ties with Chinese business entities. Vegetable oil, leather, and flax are exported. In 2017, trial shipments of confectionery, alcoholic beverages, and optical instruments were carried out. Viktor Nikolaikin expressed confidence that the current visit will contribute to the expansion and deepening of economic contacts between Vitebsk and Harbin.