China, Belarus are true friends and good partners: Xi
Presidents Xi Jinping and Alexander Lukashenko meet in Beijing, further boosting bilateral ties between China and Belarus. Photo: Xinhua
President Xi Jinping praised Belarus as a true friend of China as he met visiting Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Beijing on Wednesday.
Xi said the two countries are true friends and good partners, treating each other with sincerity and trust.
He called on both sides to further enhance coordination and cooperation within multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, jointly oppose hegemony and bullying, and safeguard international fairness and justice.
Noting China and Belarus share enduring traditional friendship, formidable political mutual trust and growing cooperation in all fields, the president said China has always viewed and developed bilateral relations from a strategic and a long-term perspective.
Xi again congratulated Lukashenko on his re-election as the president of Belarus, and said China is willing to work with Belarus to promote the steady development of bilateral ties and win-win cooperation.
Lukashenko, who is on his 15th visit to China, said Beijing sets an example for the world by upholding multilateralism and opposing unilateralism and sanctions and pressure, expressing admiration for the country and willingness to work with China to safeguard international fairness and justice.
This is his first visit to Beijing since he was declared the winner of January's presidential election. (Xinhua and agencies)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
7 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Trump extends US-China tariff truce, Xi and Lula talk: SCMP daily highlights
Catch up on some of SCMP's biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order extending by 90 days the US's tariff truce with China, removing the risk of an immediate escalation hours before the ceasefire was set to expire, but leaving trade relations fragile. Trump said on Monday that he had personally negotiated a deal with Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, letting the tech giant sell a lower-end chip in China in exchange for part of those sales revenues being paid to the US government. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke by phone for about an hour. Photo: Reuters Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has spoken by phone with Chinese leader Xi Jinping for about an hour, in a high-level contact aimed at reinforcing ties with Brazil's largest trading partner while confronting a sudden rupture in trade relations with the United States.
RTHK
10 hours ago
- RTHK
All countries should oppose unilateralism: Xi
All countries should oppose unilateralism: Xi President Xi Jinping calls on Global South countries to jointly safeguard international fairness and justice during his phone conversation with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. File photo: Xinhua President Xi Jinping told his Brazilian counterpart on Tuesday the two countries could set an example of "self-reliance" for emerging powers, as trade and geopolitical challenges mount. In a phone call with Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Xi also said all countries should unite and firmly oppose unilateralism and protectionism. The two leaders have both in recent months presented their countries as staunch defenders of the multilateral trading system, in stark contrast with US President Donald Trump's tariff onslaught. Their phone call came just hours after Trump announced another 90-day pause to blistering tariffs on China. It also followed indications from Lula last week he planned to speak with the leaders of China and India to consider a coordinated response to US trade measures. Xi told Lula that China would "work with Brazil to set an example of unity and self-reliance among major countries in the Global South, and jointly build a more just world and more sustainable planet", according to Xinhua News Agency. Xi called on Global South countries to jointly safeguard international fairness and justice, defend the basic norms governing international relations, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries, Xinhua reported. The president also said ties between China and Brazil are now at an all-time high. Xi said China and Brazil should continue to address global challenges, ensure the success of the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference in the Brazilian city of Belem, and promote the "Friends of Peace" group's role in facilitating the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis. A statement by the Brazilian presidency said the phone call lasted about an hour, and the two leaders discussed a range of topics including the war in Ukraine and the fight against climate change. "Both agreed on the role of the G20 and Brics in defending multilateralism," the statement said. Lula spoke highly of China's efforts to uphold multilateralism and safeguard free trade rules, as well as its responsible role in international affairs. The two leaders also "committed to expanding the scope of cooperation in sectors such as health, oil and gas, digital economy and satellites", the statement added. China has surpassed the United States as Brazil's largest trading partner, and two-thirds of Latin American countries have signed up to the Belt and Road infrastructure drive. Lula conducted a five-day state visit to China in May, when he told a forum for cooperation between Beijing and Latin America that his region did not want to "start a new Cold War". (AFP/Xinhua)
HKFP
12 hours ago
- HKFP
US President Trump signs order to extend China tariff truce by 90 days
US President Donald Trump on Monday ordered a delay in the reimposition of higher tariffs on Chinese goods, hours before a trade truce between Washington and Beijing was due to expire. The White House's halt on steeper tariffs will be in place until November 10. 'I have just signed an Executive Order that will extend the Tariff Suspension on China for another 90 days,' Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. The truce on steeper levies had been due to expire Tuesday. While the United States and China slapped escalating tariffs on each other's products this year, bringing them to prohibitive triple-digit levels and snarling trade, both countries in May agreed to temporarily lower them. As part of their May truce, fresh US tariffs targeting China were reduced to 30 percent and the corresponding level from China was cut to 10 percent. Those rates will now hold until November — or whenever a deal is cut before then. Around the same time that Trump confirmed the new extension, Chinese state media Xinhua news agency published a joint statement from US-China talks in Stockholm saying it would also extend its side of the truce. China will continue suspending its earlier tariff hike for 90 days starting August 12 while retaining a 10-percent duty, the report said. It would also 'take or maintain necessary measures to suspend or remove non-tariff countermeasures against the United States, as agreed in the Geneva joint declaration,' Xinhua reported. In the executive order posted Monday to its website, the White House reiterated its position that there are 'large and persistent annual US goods trade deficits' and they 'constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and economy of the United States.' The order acknowledged Washington's ongoing discussions with Beijing 'to address the lack of trade reciprocity in our economic relationship' and noted that China has continued to 'take significant steps toward remedying' the US complaints. Trump-Xi summit? 'Beijing will be happy to keep the US-China negotiation going, but it is unlikely to make concessions,' warned William Yang, an analyst at the International Crisis Group. He believes China sees its leverage over rare earth exports as a strong one, and that Beijing will likely use it to pressure Washington. US-China Business Council president Sean Stein said the current extension is 'critical to give the two governments time to negotiate an agreement' providing much-needed certainty for companies to make plans. A trade deal, in turn, would 'pave the way for a Trump-Xi summit this fall,' said Asia Society Policy Institute senior vice president Wendy Cutler. But Cutler, herself a former US trade official, said: 'This will be far from a walk in the park.' Since Trump took office, China's tariffs have essentially boomeranged, from the initially modest 10 percent hike in February, followed by repeated surges as Beijing and Washington clashed, until it hit a high of 145 percent in April. Now the tariff has been pulled back to 30 percent, a negotiated truce rate. Even as both countries reached a pact to cool tensions after high level talks in Geneva in May, the de-escalation has been shaky. Key economic officials convened in London in June as disagreements emerged and US officials accused their counterparts of violating the pact. Policymakers met again in Stockholm last month. Trump said in a social media post Sunday that he hoped China will 'quickly quadruple its soybean orders,' adding this would be a way to balance trade with the United States. China's exports reached record highs in 2024, and Beijing reported that their exports exceeded expectations in June, climbing 5.8 percent year-on-year, as the economic superpower works to sustain growth amid Trump's trade war. Separately, since returning to the presidency in January, Trump has slapped a 10-percent 'reciprocal' tariff on almost all trading partners, aimed at addressing trade practices Washington deemed unfair. This surged to varying steeper levels last Thursday for dozens of economies. Major partners like the European Union, Japan and South Korea now see a 15-percent US duty on many products, while the level went as high as 41 percent for Syria. The 'reciprocal' tariffs exclude sectors that have been targeted individually, such as steel and aluminum, and those that are being investigated like pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. They are also expected to exclude gold, although a clarification by US customs authorities made public last week caused concern that certain gold bars might still be targeted. Trump said Monday that gold imports will not face additional tariffs, without providing further details. The president has taken separate aim at individual countries such as Brazil over the trial of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is accused of planning a coup, and India over its purchase of Russian oil.
