China has said it will invest some $10 billion in the Belarusian economy, the Gazeta.ru website said.
The announcement comes at a time of strained relations between Belarus and Russia, its traditional ally.
The decision was announced on Thursday during a visit by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, the most probable successor to Chinese leader Hu Jintao, to the Belarusian capital of Minsk.
On the eve of his visit, Xi said China would provide Belarus with a $1 billion loan intended to be spent on joint projects. Besides this, Beijing also pledged to provide some $8.8 million to Belarus at no expense to Minsk.
"This is a political decision...within the framework of Belarusian-Chinese relations," Xi said.
In December, Beijing approved a $5.7-billion credit line for Belarus. As a result, China's total investment in the Belarusian economy has reached $15.7 billion, Belarusian government spokesman Alexander Timoshenko was quoted by Gazeta.ru as saying.
The two countries intend to cooperate in a total of 89 projects. Among them is the construction of a car plant and a sugar factory in Belarus, the reconstruction of several electric power stations, and the creation of a China-town in Minsk, the spokesman said.
Leonid Zaiko, who heads the Belarusian analytical center Strategiya (Strategy), told Gazaeta.ru that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was demonstrating his independence from Russia by taking money from China. Russia invests in Belarus some $6-8 billion annually by providing it a discount on oil purchases, he said.
Traditionally strong ties between Russia and Belarus have deteriorated of late over Belarus's refusal to follow Russia in recognizing the former Georgian republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, disputes over oil supplies, and slow progress in establishing a Russian-Belarusian union state.
The two countries signed an agreement to establish a union state more than ten years ago, but the plan to create greater political, economic and social integration between the two former Soviet republics has remained largely on paper.
Meanwhile, on top of its attempts to forge closer ties with the West, Belarus has also been looking to South America. During his visit to the continent earlier in March, Lukashenko signed a deal with Venezuela on the supplies of up to 80,000 barrels of crude oil per day to Belarus and expressed his government's readiness to assist Caracas in the creation of a modern national defense system.
MOSCOW, March 26 (RIA Novosti)
