Chinese сompany Zoomlion continued its partnership with MAZ following the imposition of U.S. sanctions

This story was prepared in partnership with International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), with support of the Rabochy Ruch initiative.

Documents obtained by BIC from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) show that the British subsidiary of the Chinese company Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology transferred millions of dollars to Belarus. The funds were transferred to Zoomlion Bel-Rus, a Belarusian company of which the Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ) was a co-owner at the time.

Sanctioned co-owner

As part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Belarus has become one of Zoomlion’s key hubs. In 2015, Zoomlion Bel-Rus became one of the first residents of the Great Stone Industrial Park. By early 2022, the company had invested at least $45 million in the Sino-Belarusian project. Zoomlion’s corporate reports described the Belarusian company as a springboard for entering Eastern European and Central Asian markets.

The Chinese corporation owns Zoomlion Bel-Rus through a chain of companies, including the British firm Zoomlion Powermole and the Hong Kong–based firm Zoomlion H.K. Holding. From October 2021 through July 2023, however, MAZ was also a co-owner of the Belarusian company. [*]

The plant not only owned a stake in the company but also supplied chassis for Zoomlion special-purpose vehicles manufactured in Belarus. It was during this period — in November 2021 — that Zoomlion Powermole transferred a $10 million loan to Zoomlion Bel-Rus.

The European Union had imposed sanctions on MAZ four months earlier. This issue caught the attention of the compliance department at the ICBC (London) bank during a routine audit of Zoomlion Powermole. The department monitors compliance with sanctions and reviews transactions for money laundering and other violations. According to ICIJ documents, despite the fact that EU sanctions against MAZ had no legal force in the UK, the bank analyzed Zoomlion Bel-Rus’s ties to a sanctioned state-owned enterprise and considered reclassifying the client as high-risk or terminating the banking relationship.

New intermediaries

MAZ was added to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s sanctions list in March 2023. A few months later, the plant withdrew from Zoomlion Bel-Rus’s ownership, but the partnership did not end. Documents provided by the Rabochy Rukh initiative reveal that payments owed by Zoomlion Bel-Rus to MAZ for chassis supplied under previously concluded contracts began to be processed through the Zhitkovichi Engine-Building Plant.. They used claim assignment agreements to do this — a mechanism whereby the right to collect a debt is transferred from one party to another.

Later, the Belarusian authorities became involved in efforts to maintain supplies of MAZ chassis for Zoomlion equipment. A working meeting was held at the company in July 2024, which was attended by Petr Parkhomchyk, who was then the Deputy Prime Minister. According to documents from the Rabochy Rukh initiative, the meeting focused on organizing production facilities to assemble MAZ chassis at Zoomlion Bel-Rus. [*]

Other documents indicate that the management of MAZ and Zoomlion Bel-Rus approved a cooperation roadmap. Under this plan, they decided to organize chassis deliveries through Bobruiskagromash. [*] The company’s website currently features Zoomlion truck-mounted cranes built on MAZ chassis.

The cooperation between Zoomlion Bel-Rus and the Belarusian state was not limited to the purchase of chassis from the sanctioned MAZ.. An analysis of the government procurement database revealed that the company entered into contracts at least twice - in April 2023 and November 2025 -  to supply truck-mounted cranes to the Command of the Belarusian Air Force and Air Defense Forces without a competitive bidding process. According to the Electronic Trading Platform, in one case, the supplier was selected by the Council of Ministers pursuant to a presidential decision or directive.

Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology is one of the largest manufacturers of special-purpose equipment in China. The company’s shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, as well as on the over-the-counter market in the United States.

“A Chinese company that continues to trade or transact with a US-sanctioned Belarusian entity runs the risk of secondary US sanctions,” said Alex Prezanti, a lawyer and lead counsel at the State Capture Accountability Project, in a comment to BIC. “<...>  The Chinese company's shares are traded in the US, which means that secondary sanctions would constitute a major financial hit. <...> In parallel, if the transactions between the Chinese company and the sanctioned Belarusian company took place in USD and cleared through a US correspondent bank, this would be a violation of US law and could result in civil penalties that could be enforced against US-based assets.”

The expert also noted that disclosing information about such transactions could pose a risk to the company itself. International banks and financial institutions may pre-emptively terminate their business relationship with a client if the client’s ties to sanctioned entities could cause problems for them.

In response to a query from the BIC, Zoomlion Powermole confirmed that until June 2023, MAZ held a 3.03% stake in Zoomlion Bel-Rus, but at the time of publication, MAZ is no longer a shareholder, partner, or affiliate of the company. The response emphasized that this minority stake did not fall within the ‘50% Rule’ and did not confer control within the meaning of the  sanctions law of the United Kingdom, the European Union, or other applicable sanction laws.

According to company representatives, banking relationships and financial transactions involving Zoomlion Powermole and ICBC London were conducted lawfully and in compliance with UK regulatory and financial requirements. The company also stated that, due to its obligations to protect commercially confidential information, it  could not comment on specific transactions or client relationships.

The BIC also sent requests for comment to Zoomlion Bel-Rus, Bobruiskagromash, Minsk Automobile Plant, Zhitkovichi Engine-Building Plant. At the time of publication, we had not received any responses.