CRI听力:Xi Jinping Attends China-Belarus Economic Forum

The forum kicked off Monday, attracting local officials from eight Chinese provinces and cities such as Beijing and Heilongjiang province, as well as their counterparts from 7 states in Belarus.

Xi Jinping says regional economic and trade cooperation is a vital part of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

He hopes the two sides could appreciate the complementary advantages shared by both economies.

Ahead of the forum, Xi Jinping and Lukashenko have signed a treaty of friendship, along with a joint statement on further deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

Xi Jinping said the Chinese side wants to work on strategies to help the mutual development of both China and Belarus.

"We both have agreed to stick to the principle of respecting and treating each other as equal partners. We will firmly support each other when it comes to issues that concern our core interests."

Xi Jinping added a Chinese-backed industrial park being built near Minsk is going to help develop the Silk Road Economic Belt initiative.

"We would like to build the industrial park into an upgraded version of the bilateral pragmatic cooperation and an exemplary project of the Silk Road Economic Belt, injecting positive energy into the economic development of the whole Eurasian region."

The industrial park, nicknamed Great Stone, is located just 25 kilometers from Belarus' capital and next to Minsk International Airport.

Construction on the park broke ground last year and the project is planned to be finished in three stages within 30 years. It will cover nearly 100 square kilometers.

The Belarusian Telegraphy Agency says the first 15 companies in the China-Belarus Industrial Park will make an investment of some 2 billion USD.

The Great Stone Industrial Park is viewed as a key point of the Silk Road Economic Belt initiative and the most important economic and trade cooperation project between the two sides.

Lukashenko said the Silk Road economic Belt initiative has a lot of potential.

"Belarus has become a key nation in implementing the initiative. We think President Xi's proposal to build the Silk Road Economic Belt has global significance as it's a global economic project that will have a far-reaching impact on the development and stability of not only the Eurasian region but also the whole world."

Belarus is the final leg of Xi Jinping's three-nation tour, which has also seen him make stops in Kazakhstan and Russia.