‘Belarus will be strong if China is strong’

Selfie amid the President’s quote, ballet and potato pancakes: what did visitors remember about the national exposition of Belarus at the Chinese international exhibition in Shanghai

The national exposition of Belarus at the China International Import Exhibition in Shanghai has now completed its work. This sixth forum brought together more than 150 countries and international organisations. The event attracted more than 3,400 exhibitors and nearly 400,000 trade visitors, marking a full recovery to pre-pandemic levels.

Our country was represented by more than 70 companies. During these days, the Belarusian pavilion not only introduced visitors to the economic and export potential of the country, but also surprised them every day with a cultural programme. The results of this event, bright in all respects, were shared in Belinterexpo of the BelCCI.

One of the main centres of attraction of the national pavilion was the stand with a quote from our President, which read in two languages: ‘Belarus will be strong if China is strong’. The phrase caused a real stir and hit the top of Chinese TikTok. As the organisers specified, throughout the exhibition, Chinese visitors took photographs near the inscription and next to the photo of the President of the Republic of Belarus.

One of the main centres of attraction of the national pavilion was the stand with a quote from our President

However, the national exposition has become an object of particular interest from the Chinese media due to its unique design, cultural programme and thematic days of Belarusian regions.
For example, the design of a food pavilion, decorated in the style of the Kossovo Castle, attracted the attention of the media and became an object of admiration: taking into account historical elements and adding pink accents, the stand in the image of a castle acquired a trendy Barbie style, which became a magnet for everyone who wanted to create bright and creative photographs.
However, this was not the only thing that attracted visitors: at the tasting area, where master classes on preparing dishes of national Belarusian cuisine were organised, entire queues formed of people wanting to taste dishes that were exotic for Chinese consumers.
The interest in Belarusian cuisine was so great that if on the opening day of the exhibition about a thousand tastings of national dishes were organised, then in the following days their number more than tripled.

The main character on this site was Anton Kalenik, who is among the top 200 best chefs in the world, the first chef in the CIS to join the Worlds Chefs Guild Master Chefs Society.
“The exhibition was magnificent,” chef Anton Kalenik did not hide his emotions, “The attitude of the Chinese towards our cuisine was impressive! They especially loved my potato pancakes, homemade spread with sausage and cheese, as well as fried oatmeal with nuts, pasta with cheese and cottage cheese donuts. Our stand became the most visited at the exhibition, which is not surprising, because the queues for tasting Belarusian cuisine simply did not stop.

Anton Kalenik: ‘The attitude of the Chinese towards our cuisine was impressive!’

However, our pavilion attracted people not only with daily food, but also with spiritual food.” Performances by the stars of the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus delighted guests throughout the entire period of the exposition. The audience had the opportunity to enjoy the concert of the string quintet Serenade. Ballet performances added refined aesthetics and dance grace to the exhibition days. The Adagio from the ballet Swan Lake and Esmeralda received a storm of applause and admiring glances from the audience.

Summing up the preliminary results, Belinterexpo noted that during the exhibition, a significant number of documents on co-operation were signed both between enterprises and within the framework of the Days of Belarusian Regions. For example, enterprises of the Belgospischeprom concern signed 7 documents totalling more than $6 million. Agreements totalling $85 million were also concluded as part of the Day of the Gomel Region.
In addition, an important event was also the signing of a memorandum of co-operation between the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee and representatives of the city of Qingdao (Shandong Province) in the context of the creation of the Industry Park. At the exhibition, representatives of the Brest Region and Anhui province signed an action plan for the development of trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural co-operation for the period from 2023 to 2025.
An Agreement was also signed to establish sister city relations between the city of Dunhuang, Gansu Province, and the Novogrudok District of the Grodno Region. In Liaoning province (China), it is planned to start ice cream production in co-operation with a Slutsk enterprise.
In addition, there is interest from Chinese investors in the construction of a restaurant in Mogilev and other promising opportunities.
“At the moment, work continues to summarise the signed contracts,” Belinterexpo noted in conclusion.

 Based on materials of sb.by