China, Belarus sign military-technical agreement

China and Belarus have signed an agreement to co-operate on military technologies, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in Minsk announced on 29 November.

It said the memorandum on military technical co-operation was signed during a video conference between senior defence officials from the two countries.

The MoD added that the agreement will support “further strengthening and development” between the two countries' militaries and defence establishments. It did not elaborate.

The state-owned Belarusian Telegraph Agency reported that the memorandum was signed by Major General Oleg Voinov, Belarus' defence minister aide for international military co-operation, and Major General Ci Guowei, director of the Office of International Military Co-operation within China's Central Military Commission.

In August 2021 Belarus' State Authority for Military Industry announced that China and Belarus had agreed in principle to “expand the range of areas of military-technical co-operation” between the two countries.

The requirement was outlined in a bilateral working group for “co-operation in armaments and military equipment”, said the state authority.