Chinese official to pay friendly visit to Belarus

MINSK, 18 May (BelTA) - Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Lu Yongxiang is expected to pay a friendly visit to Belarus. He will come to Belarus on an invitation of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, BelTA learnt from the Belarusian Embassy in Beijing.

The diplomatic mission stressed that the visit will further advance inter-parliamentary relations of Belarus and China. The visit will not only continue good traditions of the Belarusian-Chinese inter-parliamentary dialogue but also promote implementation of important and promising projects of the bilateral economic cooperation.

According to the embassy, in March 1998 the official parliamentary delegation of the Republic of Belarus paid a visit to the People’s Republic of China. The Belarusian representatives met with Chairman of the People’s Republic of China Jiang Zemin, Premier of the People's Republic of China Li Peng and other Chinese top officials.

In September 2000 the Republic of Belarus was visited by Premier of the People's Republic of China Li Peng. In January 2002 the official parliamentary delegation of the Republic of Belarus paid a visit to the People’s Republic of China.

In December 2009 Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Andreichenko paid an official visit to China to meet with Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Wu Bangguo and other Chinese officials. The Belarusian delegation also paid a visit to Heilongjiang Province.

Belarus has been visited by deputy chairmen of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress five times. The last visit took place on 12-14 September 2010. The Chinese delegation was led by Deputy Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Jiang Shusheng.

In September 2011 Belarus was visited by Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Wu Bangguo. He was received by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko. The Chinese officials also held meetings in the Belarusian parliament and government. The sides discussed the issues of bilateral political, inter-parliamentary, trade and economic, investment and humanitarian cooperation. Wu Bangguo attended the inauguration ceremony of the Confucius Institute at the Minsk State Linguistic University.

The Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and senior officials of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation. The meeting with Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich ended in the signing of nine economic documents, including the agreement on the Chinese-Belarusian Industrial Park.

Intensive and fruitful bilateral contacts between MPs are a solid platform for constructive cooperation in the international organizations, especially in the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the embassy noted.