On December 14, 2020, Yu Jianhua, Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy China International Trade Representative, and Aleksandr Chervyakov, Belarusian Minister of Economy, signed on-line the Joint Declaration of the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China and the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Belarus on Launching the Negotiation of the Agreement on Trade and Investment in Services Between China and Belarus, at the fourth meeting of the China-Belarus Commission for Intergovernmental Cooperation, in the witness of Guo Shengkun, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, and Nikolai Snopkov, First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus. In the next step, China and Belarus will start negotiations on relevant topics to conclude a comprehensive, high-quality agreement consistent with rules of the World Trade Organization.

In September 2016, President Xi Jinping and President Alexander Lukashenko signed the Joint Declaration of the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Belarus on Establishing a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Mutual Trust and Win-Win Cooperation. Launching negotiations on the services trade and investment agreement is an important step to materialize the consensus of the leaders. It will not only expand bilateral trade and investment, but also create a more transparent and facilitating investment environment, injecting new momentum into the comprehensive strategic partnership of mutual trust and win-win cooperation.