China and Belarus have agreed to strengthen cooperation in a range of sectors including trade, security, energy and finance, according to a joint statement, after Chinese Premier Li Qiang met Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko in Minsk.
China’s Prime Minister Li Qiang arrived in Belarus to meet President Alexander Lukashenko, following a visit to Moscow as Chinese premier where he hailed strengthening ties with Russia and met President Vladimir Putin.
Belarus, facing Western sanctions due to its support for Russia’s offensive in Ukraine, announced on Thursday that it will sign a free trade agreement with China focused on services and investment.
The statement released on Friday, a day after the Minsk meeting, said both countries would also strengthen cooperation in industrial supply chains and continue to enhance trade facilitation to reduce costs for both ends.
Belarus also intends to deepen cooperation with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, a megalopolis which covers nine cities including Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai, said the statement published by China’s foreign ministry.
According to the China Daily, Belarus was among the first group of countries that responded to China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Li said during his visit to Minsk that China-Belarus relations had remained vibrant for the past 32 years despite the changing international landscape.
China is the second-largest trading partner of Belarus and its largest trading partner in Asia, with bilateral trade exceeding $8.4 billion last year, said the China Daily.
Li arrived in Belarus on Thursday after wrapping up his first visit to Russia as Chinese premier.
(With inputs from Reuters)
