Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 20 September (BelTA) – The Chinese side thinks highly of the personal contribution of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko to the promotion of comprehensive cooperation between Belarus and China, 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 Zhao Leji said as he met with the Belarusian head of state on 20 September, BelTA has learned.

The Chinese official conveyed the best wishes of “the good old friend, China’s President Xi Jinping” to Alexander Lukashenko.

Zhao Leji emphasized the importance of the fact that the Belarusian president had visited the People’s Republic of China more than 10 times. “Personally you have made an immense contribution to the development of the Chinese-Belarusian relations. You rescheduled your short foreign trip because of my visit and I really appreciate it,” Zhao Leji said. In his view, China and Belarus are good friends that can share joy and sorrow with each other; they are good partners that help each other sincerely. “As you have noted quite fairly, our countries are copper-bottomed brothers and friends,” the Chinese official said.

He added that the major purpose of the ongoing visit of the Chinese delegation to Minsk is to implement the arrangements reached by the two heads of state on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in June this year, to forge strategic partnerships and mutually beneficial contacts, and to strengthen friendly ties between the two states.

The Chinese official will stay in Minsk on 20-22 September. It is his first visit to Belarus. Zhao Leji was elected Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC in October 2017.