Published on: 2026-07-13
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian –
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Orsha /Belarus/, July 13 /Xinhua/ — The moderately cool and humid climate of Belarus, as well as its fertile soils, make this country one of the most important regions in the world for the production of high-quality flax. For centuries, flax has been not only a beloved industrial crop for Belarusians but also a symbol of their spirit. The state emblem of Belarus features a blooming blue flax flower — a clear testament to the love and respect Belarusians have for it. Today, the fine yet strong flax fibers, crossing thousands of kilometers, are woven into the bright and colorful fabric of a reliable friendship between China and Belarus.
Simplicity, naturalness, health benefits, antistatic properties, coolness in summer and warmth in winter… Sergey Sidin, Deputy General Director for Ideological Work and Social Issues at the Orsha Flax Mill, lists the advantages of flax. “Flax has high hygroscopicity. This means it can very quickly absorb moisture from the human body and just as quickly release it into the environment. Flax is antistatic, it does not generate static electricity during use. It is also hypoallergenic and kills major bacteria,” he says.
The flax factory is located in Orsha, Belarus, which is rightfully called the “flax capital” of the country. It was founded in the 1930s and is the largest flax processing enterprise in Europe.
The flax mill is also connected with China by a special friendship. Specialists from the Belarusian enterprise participated in the creation of the first flax mill in China, located in Harbin. Later, the Orsha specialists also regularly conducted technical training for their Chinese partners.
S. Sidin clearly remembers that in 1993 the delegation from the Harbin Flax Factory was undergoing an internship at the Orsha enterprise. “I am pleased to say that in 1993 the delegation from the Harbin plant spent six months with us on an internship, where our plant’s specialists shared experience working with such a capricious material as flax. Every stage of production interested the Chinese specialists. We certainly helped them with this,” he says.
However, over time, the Orsha Flax Mill also faced new challenges: insufficient modernization began to hold back development. And here, timely help came from Chinese friends.
S. Sidin said that China provided assistance in the form of financing, as well as new technologies and equipment, carrying out a complete modernization of the plant’s Second Factory. This breathed new life into the enterprise and turned it into one of the most modern textile manufacturers in Belarus. This remarkable example of mutual assistance serves as a vivid embodiment and further development of the traditional friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation between the peoples of China and Belarus.
A Xinhua correspondent visited the Second Factory. Inside — cleanliness and light, machines from China running at high speed. They turn coarse flax raw material into fibers as fine as hair. Most operations are automated, significantly increasing production efficiency and quality.
An employee pointed to the photos on the wall. “This is the factory before the reconstruction — compared to its current state, the working conditions back then were difficult. We decided to keep these old pictures and hang them on the wall to always remember the help our Chinese friends gave us during the modernization,” he noted.
“We are very pleased that these small bricks of friendship have built a very large building, which is still developing,” emphasized S. Sidin.
Two years ago, he visited China as part of a delegation from the Belarusian government. “To be honest, I was simply amazed by the scale, the scope, and specifically the industrialization of production that exists in China now,” our interlocutor shared. “We perfectly understand that the Chinese market is a very serious market.”
Therefore, the Orsha Flax Mill, on the one hand, uses its “trump card” — high-quality products — to open the doors to the Chinese market, and on the other hand, has begun supplying fabrics and combed yarn to the Chinese market. S. Sidin expressed confidence in the Chinese market and emphasized that he highly values cooperation with the Chinese side.
“The bridge we are building now is not just a bridge to the past, it is not memories, it is an open book in which every day we write new pages. This is very important. Because when we work together on the problems currently facing the textile industry, we are laying the foundation for the future,” he concluded.
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