Lukashenka is honoured with a grand reception in Beijing: China’s message to Moscow

Summary:

Alyaksandr Lukashenka paid an official visit to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) between 28 February and 2 March 2023. His accompanying delegation included the First Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The agenda of the visit included Lukashenka’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and a plenary session which was attended by delegations from both countries. After the meeting, a document was signed, entitled Joint Statement on Further Developing the All-weather Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Belarus in the New Era. Lukashenka supported the 12-point China's Position Paper on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis.

27 intergovernmental agreements were also concluded to promote cooperation in various fields, including investments, agriculture, food supply, healthcare, construction, production, science and technology, sport, tourism and the mass media. Eight contracts or cooperation memoranda were also signed by companies from the industrial and agri-food sectors. According to Belarusian estimates, these business deals have a total value of approximately $3.5 billion.

The Chinese government took care to ensure a unique setting during the visit, a privilege rarely offered to foreign dignitaries. Xi Jinping personally attended the official welcome of Lukashenka in the Great Hall of the People at Tiananmen Square. A gun salute was fired on the square. An unusually long video coverage devoted to the visit was broadcast in the first part of the prime-time news on China’s national television. The government-controlled media also published a number of ‘enthusiastic’ materials on Sino-Belarusian relations.