Xi visits China-Belarus Industrial Park before leaving Minsk

Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the China-Belarus Industrial Park before leaving Minsk for Beijing on Tuesday.

Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, were accompanied by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during the visit to the industrial park, the largest cooperation project between the two countries and the largest foreign investment project of Belarus.

Xi was briefed on the cooperation, construction and operation of the industrial park, and watched an exhibition of Belarusian children's paintings about their imagination of the future park.

The two heads of state attended a ceremony that witnessed the first group of companies being granted to conduct businesses in the park.

The two leaders also signed their names on the blueprint of the park.

The China-Belarus Industrial Park is being built on the outskirts of Minsk under an agreement signed by the two countries in September 2011.

A joint development company was unveiled in August 2012 and a ground-breaking ceremony was held on June 19, 2014.

The industrial park, covering 91.5 square km, will focus on developing electronics, biomedicine, fine chemistry, high-end manufacturing, logistics storage and other industries.

The two countries have agreed to build the park into a model project in the construction of the China-proposed Silk Road Economic Belt, which connects Asia with Europe.

Xi's three-day trip to Belarus was the first visit by a Chinese head of state to the Eastern European nation in 14 years.

The president left Minsk after visiting the industrial park, wrapping up his six-day journey to Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus.

On May 9 in Moscow, he attended commemorative events marking the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Great Patriotic War, Russia's term for WWII. Endi