Belarus willing to be platform for China's Silk Road initiative

MINSK - Belarus is willing to become one of the platforms in Eurasia for the implementation of China's Silk Road Economic Belt initiative, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

"What is of foremost importance is to construct a transportation network of railways, highways, airways and so on, and what comes the second is to provide a venue for producing competitive products," Lukashenko elaborated on Belarus' possible roles in the project of Silk Road Economic Belt.

Lukashenko told Xinhua that the China-Belarus Industrial Park, or the Great Stone, which the two countries will build together, would create favorable conditions for the Silk Road Economic Belt connecting Asia and Europe.

"The industrial park would gather the most advanced technologies and the latest economic development modes," Lukashenko said.

The geographic feature of Belarus standing at the center of the Eurasia continent is a treasure to the country itself, which could also help reinforce mutual cooperation between Beijing and Minsk.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Belarus on May 10-12, and this visit, which occurs in Belarus' 2015 presidential election year, "means a lot to us", Lukashenko said.

He recalled the upgrade of China-Belarus bilateral relations to the comprehensive strategic partnership in July 2013, saying that the two countries are trustworthy friends.

The all-around cooperation between the two countries would bring practical benefits, and also help lift up China's influence in Europe, said Lukashenko.

The two presidents would discuss strategic as well as pragmatic issues, Lukashenko said.

"We will visit several specific enterprises and the Great Stone China-Belarus Industrial Park currently under construction."

Maintaining the good partnership with China is an important task for Belarus, Lukashenko stressed, noting that there are lots of things to learn from the rapid development of the powerful country.

"I have found many good experiences when I visited China's special economic zones 20 years ago as a member of the Belarusian parliament," Lukashenko said.

"I adopted China's step-by-step economic reform style in Bearus and believe that the most important prerequisite for economic development and economic reforms is social stability," he concluded.