On Monday, February 23rd, according to a report published by Nikkei Asia, internal documents indicate that the Chinese military trade giant, China Electronics Import-Export Company (CEIEC), is assisting Belarus in constructing a large-scale ammunition production line.
The factory is expected to start production in the second half of 2026, with initial plans to produce the equivalent of 120,000 122mm rockets per year, approximately 20% of Russia’s current annual production of such ammunition.
With the ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine still far from being realized, despite Beijing’s repeated denials of providing military support to Russia and Belarus, these documents suggest that a Chinese state-owned enterprise may be profiting from weapons-related assistance, which could potentially violate the sanction policies imposed by the United States and Europe regarding the conflict in Ukraine.
The internal documents were provided by the opposition group “BELPOL” outside Belarus, stating that these documents come from various cooperating sources within Belarus’ defense industry. The materials include contracts, transaction records, and meeting minutes between Belarus and Chinese companies.
According to the report, CEIEC and Belarusian state-owned company “ZTEM” signed a contract worth $26.8 million (settled in RMB) in Beijing on December 20, 2023.
The new production line will be responsible for critical production processes, including loading explosives like TNT into the warheads. The contract specifies that the Chinese side will supply relevant equipment and technical documents, train 15 Belarusian employees in China for a month, and have Chinese experts supervise the production process of the initial 500 shells in the early stage.
As per the contract, the related equipment is expected to start installation in March 2026 and be completed by July.
In response to inquiries from Nikkei Asia, Belarus’ ZTEM factory remained cautious, stating, “We are a special production facility. No one can answer your questions.”
CEIEC did not respond to Nikkei Asia’s request for comments.
Despite the repeated denials by Chinese authorities of providing military support to Russia or Belarus, this investigation reveals that a Chinese state-owned enterprise is indeed providing substantial assistance in weapon production.
With President Trump planning a visit to China in April this year to discuss economic and other international issues, the attitude of Beijing may lead the US to adopt a tougher stance towards China.
In fact, CEIEC was sanctioned by the US during President Trump’s first term in 2020 for allegedly supporting Iran and Venezuela.
This is not the first time that the media has exposed such confidential projects. Previously, the Ukrainian National News Agency Ukrinform had quoted BELPOL’s investigation as early as December last year, revealing the covert project codenamed “Uchastok.”
BELPOL had then pointed out that Belarus was implementing a large-scale, secretive national project to establish full-cycle production capacity for Soviet-caliber ammunition (122mm and 152mm), with the related products possibly directly supplying the Russian military for use in the conflict in Ukraine.
The factory is located at an old military base in the Slutsk region of Minsk Oblast.
BELPOL spokesman Vladimir Zhihar emphasized, “This is not just political support for Russia, but direct material and technical support for its armed aggression.”
At that time, Zhihar stated that the project was jointly driven by Russia and China, with Russia providing the production line and raw materials, while China focused on warhead filling and technical training.
The 122mm rockets produced by this new factory are compatible with the Russian BM-21 “Grad” multiple rocket launcher system, a weapon widely used on the Ukrainian battlefield.