Chinese President Xi Jinping's six-day trip, which brought him to Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus, has achieved substantial results, and has opened a new chapter for the Chinese diplomacy, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters upon the conclusion of the tour.[Special coverage]
Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan returned to Beijing on Tuesday night after visits to Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus
His Kazakhstan trip is at the invitation of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. At the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Xi visited Russia from Friday to Sunday and attended the ceremony commemorating the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Great Patriotic War in Moscow.
Xi also paid a state visit to Belarus from Sunday to Tuesday as guest of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
In the span of six days, the president held talks with his counterparts of the three nations, and attended more than 50 bilateral or multilateral events, met with people from all walks of life including political leaders and WWII veterans, promoting China's notion of promoting peace, development and win-win cooperation.
Xi's trip to the three Eurasian countries mainly has two themes: to attend commemorative activities for the victory of World War II (WWII) and to further promote political trust and pragmatic cooperation between China and the three countries.
COMMEMORATING VICTORY OF WWII
In the life-or-death fight 70 years ago between justice and evil, all the peace loving countries and their peoples formed a united front facing the brutality and atrocity of the fascists, and, after making enormous sacrifices and years of courageous fighting, eventually prevailed over the barbaric invaders, Wang said.
The commemorations in Russia and later in China are aimed at remembering history and paying tribute to martyrs while, alongside people of all nations, safeguarding the hard-earned peace and ushering in a bright future for peace and development of all mankind, the foreign minister said.
The Chinese people supported the various commemorative events held by the European people to celebrate the victory of European theater in WWII in May, while China also plans to hold similar events in September to celebrate the hard-earned victory in the Asian theater, Wang said.
The Chinese president's attendance at the grand Victory Day parade at Moscow's Red Square on Saturday demonstrates Chinese people's deep respect for the Russian people who made enormous sacrifices in fighting against invaders, as well as for all the people who fought valiantly for freedom and peace in the European theater of WWII.
Xi, hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin, was among more than 20 leaders of countries, regions and international organizations to attend the commemorative event.
Accompanied by Putin, Xi, together with other distinguished guests, walked to Red Square and ascended to the reviewing stand to watch the Victory Day parade.
China's guards of honor, consisting of 112 members, joined the parade and marched through the Red Square. It was the first time for Chinese soldiers to participate in Russian Victory Day parades.
