China, Belarus forge comprehensive strategic partnership

China and Belarus announced on Tuesday to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership as the heads of the two countries held talks in Beijing. During the talks, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko reached a high degree of consensus on bilateral relations as well as major international and regional issues. Xi said bilateral relations have a solid foundation and a broad prospect for development. He said to cement and deepen ties with Belarus is the unswerving policy of China. He appreciated Belarus's support for issues concerning China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, adding that China will work with Belarus to push for a new development of bilateral relations. Lukashenko said China is a close and reliable friend of Belarus. China's stable development on the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics has great significance to the world. It is also a great inspiration to Belarus, he said. Developing relations with China is a priority in Belarus's foreign policy, Lukashenko said, adding that Belarus hopes to enhance bilateral coordination on major issues. He also called for a deepened friendship, mutual trust and cooperation. The presidents of the two countries decided to establish the China-Belarus comprehensive strategic partnership and formulate development plans to further advance the level of cooperation. The two sides will continue to firmly support each other in political areas. They will firmly support each other's core interests, major concerns, political and social system, development path and economic revitalization. They will maintain close high-level communications and further exchange governance experience. In economic areas, the two countries will deepen cooperation in infrastructure, machinery manufacturing, communications, building materials, energy, chemicals, finance and other fields. They will push forward large projects, increase bilateral trade on high value-added and high-tech based products, boost a balanced growth in bilateral trade, expand mutual investment and build joint ventures and the China-Belarus Industrial Park. The two sides will also enhance people-to-people exchanges. China will welcome more Belarusian students. The two sides will jointly establish Confucius Institutes, hold a Culture Day as well as promote local exchanges. China and Belarus will strengthen coordination in international affairs. They will make joint efforts to safeguard the UN Charter and World War II victory results, promote a multipolar world, democratization of international relations as well as world peace, stability and prosperity. After their talks, Xi and Lukashenko signed a joint statement on establishing a bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership and witnessed the signing of a series of bilateral cooperation documents. According to a joint statement, China and Belarus support relevant countries and peoples in West Asia and North Africa to independently explore development paths in line with their national conditions, encourage relevant parties to resolve differences through inclusive political dialogues. The two sides also agreed to enhance communication and coordination on the human rights issue. They hold that different countries should deal with their differences on human rights through dialogue and cooperation rather than confrontation. They oppose to put pressure on other countries and interfere in the internal matters of other nations using human rights as a pretext, said the statement.