MINSK, 5 September (BelTA) - Belarus is happy with the results of the recent visit of Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Li Qiang, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with outgoing Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of China to Belarus Xie Xiaoyong on 5 September, BelTA has learned.
“We paid very serious attention to the visit of Premier Li Qiang to Belarus. We are happy with this visit. The government is working hard on the development of relations alongside the issues discussed during the visit of the Chinese premier,” the head of state said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized that the Chinese premier highly appreciated the development of the Great Stone Park, to which Belarus attaches paramount importance. The number of the park's residents is constantly on the rise, which shows the great interest of Chinese and other manufacturers in the park.
The president also thanked China for technical assistance. “With the help of the People's Republic of China, we are finishing the construction of two social facilities that will contribute to the health of our population and will be image-building for the country. These are a swimming pool and a stadium, which I hope we will mostly finish this year,” he said.
As BelTA earlier reported, Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Li Qiang paid an official visit to Belarus in the second half of August. He met with the president of Belarus and held official talks with the prime minister of Belarus. The talks resulted in the signing of a large package of agreements in the economic sector. In particular, Belarus and China signed an intergovernmental agreement on trade in services and investment. The document provides for the establishment of a free trade zone in services between the two countries, a transparent, liberal and favorable regime for attracting investment. Apart from that, Belarus and China launched the Year of Cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation and gave an official start to the establishment of five centers, including the ones on the traditional Chinese medicine, cooperation in geological sciences, technology transfer of SCO member states, as well as a branch of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus in China. Five industrial projects worth about $1 billion were also approved. Twelve industrial projects worth $2 billion are in the pipeline for joint approval.