Minsk and the Chinese city Changchun plan to promote cooperation in the area of railway car manufacturing, said Sui Zhongcheng, First Vice Mayor of Changchun Municipal People’s Government, after meeting with Minsk Mayor Nikolai Ladutko on 14 March.

Sui Zhongcheng reminded that Minsk and Changchun had been twinned for nearly 20 years. He believes the cooperation has been developing rapidly during this time. The official mentioned the establishment of a joint technological cluster in Changchun as the most prominent result the cooperation has achieved. Joint projects will be promoted within the framework of the technological cluster.

The sides signed several agreements involving the technological cluster administration on 14 March, for instance, an agreement on cooperation in manufacturing railway cars. Changchun’s First Vice Mayor said that the Chinese city boasts the country’s largest carriage works, which accounts for 55% of the railway cars in mainland China. Efforts are underway to introduce high-speed trains in China (up to 380km/h) that have been designed and manufactured in Changchun.

According to the source, the talks in Minsk resulted in an agreement to hold an investment forum in the capital city of Belarus. “I think representatives of Changchun companies and enterprises will find time for an official visit to Minsk in order to inform about their capabilities and the areas of cooperation they are interested in and also in order to work out investment projects together with Belarusian partners,” said Sui Zhongcheng.

The Chinese delegation in Belarus also includes representatives of the companies that specialize in electronics. Changchun’s First Vice Mayor said he was confident that negotiations on joint projects in the area of electronics would be held during the visit.

Changchun’s official delegation is supposed to stay in Minsk on 13-15 March.

Changchun is a twin city of Minsk. The former is home to 7.6 million residents. The Changchun province is home to 26.4 million people. The city boasts advanced science, automobile manufacturing (licensed from Germany and Japan) and optical instrument making. Changchun is China’s third largest and most important city in China’s north-east.