Ahead of the Chinese President's visit, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says his country is ready to become the hub for the Silk Road Economic Belt.
"We are modernizing the railways, highways and other infrastructures with China's help. Nowadays, transportation is very convenient in Belarus, which is an important guarantee for building the
Silk Road Economic Belt. But more importantly, our country can be the hub for the economic belt which passes through Kazakhstan and Russia. So it needs a logistics platform, and Belarus can
play this role. We can build this platform together."
The Silk Road Economic Belt was proposed by China in 2013, aiming to bring together Asia and Europe with closer trade and cultural ties.
The Belarusian President also applauded China's commemoration this September of the 70th anniversary of the end of its war against Japan. Chinese President Xi Jinping is due to visit Belarus from Sunday to Tuesday.
