MINSK, 15 June (BelTA) – Political trust between Belarus and China is growing stronger all the time, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to the Republic of Belarus Xie Xiaoyong said at the international online conference “Belarus and China: Common development trajectory”, BelTA has learned.
“Next year will mark an important milestone - the 30th anniversary of China-Belarus diplomatic relations. Over the past 30 years, the two countries and their leaders have been constantly working to maintain stable and healthy interstate relations. Cooperation between the business communities is advancing to a new level and is generating outstanding results, which benefits the peoples of the two countries,” the ambassador said.
According to him, at present Belarus-China relations have certain distinctive features. “Firstly, political trust between the two countries is continuously strengthening. The states regularly exchange visits at the high and highest levels, coordinate with each other on the international arena, and also strongly support each other in matters concerning the key interests of the two countries. Secondly, trade and economic cooperation is pretty vibrant. Despite the impact of the pandemic, the trade between China and Belarus grew significantly last year, up 10.7%. In January-April this year, the import and export of goods between the countries amounted to $1.25 billion, an increase of 58% over the same period last year. China has become the second largest trading partner of Belarus. The parties have made substantial progress as part of the Belt and Road Initiative, while the China-Belarus Industrial Park Great Stone has become a landmark project of this initiative,” the ambassador said.
The head of the diplomatic mission noted that humanitarian exchanges are becoming more frequent, too. “The number of joint research projects is on the rise, which is yielding great results. In 2020, more than 5,000 Chinese students studied in Belarus, and over 1,000 Belarusian students studied in China. Confucius Institutes established by China and the Chinese Cultural Center in Minsk work in Belarus,” he said.
“Interregional cooperation has become a new growth point for bilateral relations. All six regions of Belarus and the city of Minsk have established twinning relations with the provinces and cities of China. Interregional cooperation is continuously fleshed out and comes to play a more important role in strengthening China-Belarus cooperation and long-standing friendship between the two peoples. In addition, cooperation during the pandemic only strengthened friendly relations between the two peoples. After the outbreak of COVID-19, China and Belarus provided material assistance to each other and shared best practices in the fight against the pandemic. In January and May, the Chinese government sent a batch of coronavirus vaccines to Belarus free of charge,” the ambassador said.
According to the head of the diplomatic mission, the results achieved by the two countries are a testimony to a high level of cooperation and strong friendship between Belarus and China. The bilateral cooperation is an illustrative example of the proverb ‘a friend in need is a friend indeed'.
“The China-Belarus cooperation has great potential and prospects. The countries have a common task - to protect their sovereignty, security, and international justice. It is necessary to make the most of tight political contacts and friendly relations in order to expand cooperation in education, science, technology, culture, to intensify communication between think tanks and the youth, as well as to keep strengthening mutual understanding and friendship between peoples,” he added.
