China, Belarus Agree to Strengthen Cooperation in Trade, Security

FILE - In this photo provided by the Belarusian Presidential Press Service, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko speaks to military personnel during his visit to Oshmyany District, Grodno region of Belarus on March 26, 2024. A Belarusian human rights group said Thursday, July 4, 2024 that at least 10 political prisoners have been freed since the country’s authoritarian president this week promised to release seriously ill people jailed in connection with massive protests nearly four years ago. (Belarusian Presidential Press Service via AP, File)
FILE - In this photo provided by the Belarusian Presidential Press Service, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko speaks to military personnel during his visit to Oshmyany District, Grodno region of Belarus on March 26, 2024. A Belarusian human rights group said Thursday, July 4, 2024 that at least 10 political prisoners have been freed since the country’s authoritarian president this week promised to release seriously ill people jailed in connection with massive protests nearly four years ago. (Belarusian Presidential Press Service via AP, File)
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China, Belarus Agree to Strengthen Cooperation in Trade, Security

FILE - In this photo provided by the Belarusian Presidential Press Service, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko speaks to military personnel during his visit to Oshmyany District, Grodno region of Belarus on March 26, 2024. A Belarusian human rights group said Thursday, July 4, 2024 that at least 10 political prisoners have been freed since the country’s authoritarian president this week promised to release seriously ill people jailed in connection with massive protests nearly four years ago. (Belarusian Presidential Press Service via AP, File)
FILE - In this photo provided by the Belarusian Presidential Press Service, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko speaks to military personnel during his visit to Oshmyany District, Grodno region of Belarus on March 26, 2024. A Belarusian human rights group said Thursday, July 4, 2024 that at least 10 political prisoners have been freed since the country’s authoritarian president this week promised to release seriously ill people jailed in connection with massive protests nearly four years ago. (Belarusian Presidential Press Service via AP, File)

China and Belarus have agreed to strengthen cooperation in a range of sectors including trade, security, energy and finance, a joint communique showed.

Belarus, which has been hit by Western sanctions over its support for Russia's offensive in Ukraine, said Thursday it will sign a free trade deal with China for services and investment.

China's Prime Minister Li Qiang was in Belarus to meet President Alexander Lukashenko, following a visit to Moscow where he hailed strengthening ties with Russia and met President Vladimir Putin.

Minsk and Beijing will sign a series of bilateral partnership agreements during his visit, the Belarusian presidency said in a statement on its website.

"One of them can definitely be called historic -- an agreement on the creation of a free trade zone for services and investment," it quoted Lukashenko as saying.

Minsk said the deal would create "transparent and predictable rules" that would boost Belarus' exports to China by at least 12 percent and Chinese investment into Belarus by 30 percent over the next five years.

According to AFP, Belarus has been targeted by sanctions over its support of Russia's military offensive on Ukraine and Lukashenko's crackdown on protesters following his disputed 2020 re-election.

It is hugely reliant on economic support from Moscow.

China meanwhile is flexing its economic muscle across Eurasia through vast infrastructure and financial projects, seeking to build up its soft power in an investment splurge that has concerned the West.

Both Belarus and China have been accused of enabling and supporting Moscow's military offensive on Ukraine.

Lukashenko said he wanted to see a "large influx of Chinese technology" into Belarus over the coming years.



Trump May Travel to China to Meet Xi in ‘Not-Too-Distant Future’

 President Donald Trump meets with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, July 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP)
President Donald Trump meets with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, July 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP)
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Trump May Travel to China to Meet Xi in ‘Not-Too-Distant Future’

 President Donald Trump meets with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, July 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP)
President Donald Trump meets with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, July 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP)

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he may visit China soon for a landmark trip at a time of simmering trade and security tensions.

"President Xi has invited me to China, and we'll probably be doing that in the not-too-distant future," Trump told reporters in the White House's Oval Office.

"A little bit out, but not too distant. And I've been invited by a lot of people, and we'll make those decisions pretty soon."

Reuters has reported that Trump and Xi's aides have discussed a potential meeting between the leaders during a trip by the US president to Asia later this year, citing two people familiar with the plans.

While plans for a meeting have not been finalized, discussions on both sides of the Pacific have included a possible Trump stopover around the time of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea or talks on the sidelines of the October 30-November 1 event, the people said.

Another possible trip would be for a September 3 Beijing ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two, which Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to attend.

The White House and the Chinese government had declined to comment on that earlier Reuters report.

Trump made the comment about meeting Xi during a meeting with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., a key Pacific ally who Trump said he had successfully moved away from China, even as he said it was fine for the two countries to have relations.

Trump has sought to lower tensions with Beijing in recent weeks after pausing a tit-for-tat tariff war that has upended global trade and supply chains.

Trump has sought to impose tariffs on virtually all foreign goods, which he says will stimulate domestic manufacturing and which critics say will make many consumer goods more expensive for Americans.

He has called for a universal base tariff rate of 10% on goods imported from all countries, with higher rates for imports from some, including China. Imports from China have the highest tariff rate of 55%.

Trump has set a deadline of August 12 for the US and China to reach a durable tariff agreement.

Other points of friction between the countries include China's support for Russia, trade in fentanyl-related chemicals, regional security worries, and exit bans on some American residents.