China Merchants CHN-BLR Commerce and Logistics Company (CMCB), a part of the China Merchants Group, is willing to become BUCE’s logistics operator in the Asian region and promote the development of exchange trade between Belarus and China. Mr. Zhang Long, CMCB Head of Business Development, made this proposal while visiting BUCE headquarters in Minsk. The parties plan to formalize their partnership by signing a Memorandum of Cooperation. At the same time, according to CMCB representative, logistics is not the only promising area for collaboration with BUCE.

“We have plenty of big clients who would like to buy sawn timber and other Belarus-made products, and BUCE, as far as we know, has gathered under one roof nearly all the leading exporters. Hence, I believe that combining our experience in logistics with your capabilities as an international trading platform will create a powerful synergistic effect and bolster mutual trade between our countries. However in addition to logistics services, we are ready to offer cooperation in the banking and insurance sectors. In our opinion, this will help simplify financial transactions between Belarusian and Chinese companies, as well as mitigate certain risks associated with cross-border trade. In other words, logistics is just the first step towards a long-term strategic partnership between our organizations,” CMCB representative said.

In this respect, Andrey Novikov, BUCE Senior Vice Chairman, confirmed the exchange's interest in establishing partnerships with CMC and emphasized the importance of the Chinese market as a means of unlocking BUCE’s export potential.

“Last year, the export of lumber via BUCE amounted to some 2 million cubic meters. This year we project that it will exceed 3 million. Therefore, if your clients are interested in regular shipments of the Belarusian sawn timber in bulk, then our trading platform is the best tool you can find. By the way, skimmed milk powder and rapeseed oil are also among our best sellers that could be viable export commodities in China. We have already amassed some experience in selling these goods to the Chinese market with delivery by rail. Moreover, BUCE monitors the fulfilment of obligations under each transaction. Through collaboration with China Merchants, we would be able to offer more flexible logistics solutions to our customers. As for imports from China, would suggest focusing on amino acids, as they are extremely popular with the Belarusian agricultural enterprises. I have no doubts that in your vast client base one can find quite a number of companies ready to supply these products to Belarus. As I have mentioned, the demand is usually sky high,” Andrey Novikov stressed.