Events

MINSK, 11 October (BelTA) – Belarus’ relations with the People’s Republic of China have never been closer, kinder, or more strategically important than they are now. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko made the statement after casting his vote at polling station No. 1 on 11 October, BelTA has learned.

“We are going to advance our relations the way we’ve been doing it up till now. We are going to move only forward in developing our relations with China,” stressed the Belarusian leader.

He noted that Belarus has been building relations with China for over 20 years. “I have always been saying, including back when I was an MP: look at China, future belongs to this country. You can look up what the opposition told me back then. The communists stayed silent but the opposition cried out: we are not a banana republic, there is nothing to learn from China! Today any country is glad to have good relations with China. We built these relations before China became a genuine, powerful empire. We treasure the fact,” stressed the President.

As an indicator of future bilateral Belarusian-Chinese relations Alexander Lukashenko quoted Xi Jinping, who had said that China was ready to support Belarus in all areas at any time. “It means a lot! China is not known for making empty promises,” said the Belarusian head of state.

“We have excellent relations,” stressed the President. In his words, the economy will develop around the Silk Road concept. One of the areas mentioned by Xi Jinping is already being developed in Belarus — the construction of the China-Belarus industrial park Great Stone where state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities will be located. “It is one of the results of our relations with the People’s Republic of China at present,” added the head of state.

Alexander Lukashenko thanked the Chinese side for support and aid provided to Belarus at a difficult time. “I thank you for everything, credit and investment support, shipments and purchases of Belarusian equipment and vehicles by China. We have virtually no problems in relations with China now,” said Alexander Lukashenko.