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China calls on Belarus to expand trade, strengthen cooperation on vaccines

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Belarus, President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping recalled

BEIJING, January 10. /TASS/. China and Belarus should strengthen cooperation on vaccines, innovation development, and expand bilateral trade, President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping said during a telephone conversation with President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko.

"This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Belarus. Over the past 30 years, the development of Chinese-Belarusian relations has achieved significant results," Xi Jinping said as quoted by the national television.

As the Chinese leader pointed out, the parties jointly promote the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, develop major projects, and strengthen exchanges in such areas as science, education, culture, tourism, medicine and others.

"The Chinese side is ready to cooperate with the Belarusian side in order to turn the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations into a starting point for further strengthening the political trust of the two sides, deepening mutually beneficial cooperation, and helping the comprehensive strategic partnership achieve new results," the Chinese President said.

"The parties should expand the scale of bilateral trade, strengthen cooperation in the field of innovations, green technologies and digital development. <...> The parties should continue to strengthen cooperation on vaccines," he added.

In turn, Lukashenko thanked China for providing support and expressed readiness to use the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations as an opportunity to advance cooperation between the two countries to a new level.

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