China to increase cooperation with Belarus

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) shakes hands with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, July 17, 2013. (Xinhua/Ma Zhancheng)

China expects to further its cooperation with Belarus in fields such as trade, investment, science and technology, energy and culture, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said in Beijing on Wednesday.

Li made the comments during his meeting with visiting Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, hailing the comprehensive strategic partnership that the two countries announced to establish on Tuesday.

Li said the growing value of bilateral trade showed how the two economies supplemented each other. He called on the two nations to further implement joint projects in infrastructure construction and the establishment of industrial parks in a bid to forge more common interests.

Bilateral cooperation can help increase common interests and bring profits to the two peoples, Li said.

Li said China and Belarus, as reliable and good partners, have offered firm support to each other on issues to their core interests and key concerns, proposing the two sides intensify high-level exchanges, enhance cooperation and step up bilateral coordination on world affairs.

Lukashenko highlighted the importance that Belarus attached to Belarus-China ties, welcoming Chinese companies to invest in his country and be involved in its national economic development.

On Wednesday, Li also met with his Dominican counterpart Roosevelt Skerrit, calling on the two nations to cultivate cooperation in coping with climate change and promoting sustainable growth.

China is willing to forge cooperation with Dominica in fields of trade, investment, agriculture, clean energy, public health and transportation, Li said.

Skerrit, who is in the country to attend an ecological forum to be held from Friday to Sunday in Guiyang, capital city of southwest China's Guizhou Province, expressed his appreciation to China's long-term help and aid to Dominica and other Caribbean countries.

He also praised the role China has been playing to safeguard the common interests of developing nations, pledging his efforts to promote bilateral cooperation as well as cooperation between China and other Caribbean countries.