Chinese president sets off for tour of Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus

BEIJING, May 7. /TASS/. Chinese President Xi Jinping began his working trip on Thursday during which he is due to pay visits to Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus. The Chinese leader will first visit Kazakhstan’s capital Astana where he will stay until May 8. Xi and his Kazakhstan’s counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev are due to discuss bilateral economic cooperation, including in the oil and gas sphere, energy sphere, transport infrastructure, manufacturing sector and agriculture. The upcoming visit "will show China’s political support for the Kazakh leader" and "the high level of strategic confidence and quality of relations between the two countries," Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Chen Gopin said. The Chinese president will visit Moscow on May 8-10 where he will take part in a ceremony on occasion of the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 and also hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two leaders will exchange views on the important regional and international issues and also discuss the prospects of developing bilateral relations. Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said on Wednesday that some 40 documents in the spheres of energy, transport, military and technical cooperation are expected to be signed during the visit. Xi will later travel to Belarus to hold talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. The sides plan to ink an agreement on friendship and cooperation that is set to "confirm the political will and fundamental principles of the current all-encompassing strategic partnership" of the two countries, Gopin said. The heads of state will discuss a project of creating a joint industrial park in Belarus and also the issues of trade, customs procedures, education, culture and tourism. The trip to the capital Minsk will become the first visit of a Chinese leader to Belarus over the past 14 years. Read more