MINSK, 11 January (BelTA) - China intends to implement new ambitious economic projects in Belarus, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of China to Belarus Cui Qiming said at an event to review the Belarusian-Chinese cooperation, BelTA has learned.
“China is a close and reliable friend of Belarus. Under the strategic leadership of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Belarusian-Chinese comprehensive strategic partnership based on trust and mutually beneficial cooperation has been steadily gaining momentum.
The high-level exchanges of visits between the two countries have become more frequent and mutual political trust has increased, which, as the ambassador believes, is very important. In June this year, the Belarusian president participated in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in the Chinese city of Qingdao. Alexander Lukashenko and Xi Jinping met to exchange views on bilateral cooperation in various fields and outlined strategic areas of promoting the Belarusian-Chinese relations.
China's Vice President Wang Qishan traveled to Belarus on a friendly visit in May 2018. In September 2018 Belarus hosted Zhao Leji, the member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC.
“Pragmatic cooperation between the two countries in various fields is expanding. The parties actively promote joint projects in energy, transport, infrastructure, vehicle assembly, development of small and medium-sized businesses,” the diplomat said.
According to Belarus' statistics, the trade between China and Belarus is expected to exceed $3.5 billion in 2018.
“China and Belarus have been consistently implementing the Belt and Road Initiative, while the China-Belarus Industrial Park became a landmark project of this initiative. In November 2018 Beijing hosted the third session of the China-Belarus intergovernmental committee on cooperation that passed a general cooperation plan covering various areas. In 2018 we reaped the benefits of our cooperation in economy and technology, reviewed our work in the past and explored new opportunities. By joining their efforts Belarus and China made significant progress in implementing technological and economic aid projects,” Cui Qiming said.
China is involved in a number of important construction projects in Belarus. China is building a student dormitory, a therapeutic block of Minsk Central District Hospital, social housing, a rental housing complex on the premises of the China-Belarus Industrial Park and a building of the Chinese-Belarusian center for cooperation in transforming R&D accomplishments. The ambassador also mentioned the construction of the national football stadium and a swimming pool meeting international standards.
Cui Qiming noted that the two countries have ambitious cooperation plans for 2019. “We will work hard to implement the agreements reached by our heads of state during the SCO Qingdao Summit in June 2018,” he added.
“This year, the Chinese Embassy in Belarus will continue to implement Xi Jinping's diplomatic ideas, maintain the momentum in the Chinese-Belarusian relations, develop pragmatic cooperation in all areas, strengthen the traditional friendship between the two peoples so that the Chinese-Belarusian relations bring more benefits to the two peoples. Together with Belarusian friends we will strive to make new bigger contributions to the Chinese-Belarusian comprehensive strategic partnership and the efforts to build the Community of Common Destiny,” the ambassador said.
