On May 4, 2015, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a briefing for Chinese and foreign media, during which Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping introduced President Xi Jinping’s upcoming attendance of celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of Russia’s victory in Great Patriotic War in Moscow as well as his visit to Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, and answered questions from the journalists.

With regards to Xi Jinping’s attendance of the celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of Russia’s victory in Great Patriotic War and his visit to Russia, Cheng Guoping said that this year marks the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the world anti-fascist war as well as the founding of the UN. China and Russia are not only main battlefields of the WWII in Asia and Europe respectively and the major victorious countries of the WWII but also the founding members of the UN and the permanent members of the UN Security Council. The two nations once made huge sacrifice and great contribution to the victory of the WWII. President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin determined that China and Russia will together hold a series of celebrations and commemorations within bilateral and multilateral frameworks this year, and join hands with the international community to remember the history, cherish the memory of martyrs, cherish peace and open up the future. President Xi Jinping will attend relevant events commemorating the 70th anniversary of Russia’s victory in Great Patriotic War including the Parade on the Red Square, laying wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and welcome banquet.

Cheng Guoping noted that President Xi Jinping’s trip to Moscow is to safeguard peace and jointly create the future and also to comprehensively advance China-Russia relations. Under the strategic guidance and top-level design of President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin, bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination has kept a high-level and stable development and thus entered a new stage, with bilateral political mutual trust being constantly deepened, bilateral comprehensive cooperation being expanded and bilateral coordination in international affairs being effectively carried out. During his visit to Russia, President Xi Jinping will also hold talks and meetings with President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev respectively, as well as meet with representatives of WWII Russian veterans and representatives of Russian aid experts for China and their families. The two heads of state will sign and release a joint statement on deepening bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination and promoting win-win cooperation, discuss major matters including cooperation in connecting China’s construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt with Russia’s construction of the grand Eurasian passage and the development of the Eurasian Economic Union, determine the major areas and directions concerning the development of bilateral relations and bilateral all-round cooperation in the next stage, and elaborate the propositions of safeguarding the victorious outcome of the WWII, promoting global peace and development, jointly maintaining the purposes and principles of the UN Charter as well as the international order with the UN at the core, and pushing forward the construction of the new type of international relations with win-win cooperation at the core. Both sides will also sign cooperation documents covering energy, aerospace, taxation, finance, investment and other fields.

Cheng Guoping expressed his belief that with the joint efforts of both countries, President Xi Jinping’s Moscow trip will surely achieve a complete success and inject new and powerful impetus into the high-level development of bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination, thus to boost common development and revitalization of both countries as well as to maintain global peace and stability.

In regards to President Xi Jinping’s visit to Kazakhstan, Cheng Guoping said that as a friendly neighbor and comprehensive strategic partner of China, Kazakhstan is an important cooperative partner of China in constructing the Silk Road Economic Belt. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Kazakhstan 23 years ago, the bilateral relations have witnessed smooth development, with the bilateral high-level exchanges being increasingly boosted, good-neighborly friendship being constantly consolidated, and political mutual trust being continuously deepened. Over the years, both sides have always supported each other firmly on issues concerning major and core interests, addressed all the threats and challenges together, and intensified mutually beneficial cooperation vigorously in such fields as economy, trade, investment, production capacity, energy and finance, injecting strong impetus into the common prosperity and development of the two nations. The two nations have also joined efforts in cracking down on the “three evil forces”, drug trafficking and transnational organized crime to safeguard the security interests of the two peoples together. The two countries have enjoyed mutual support in international and regional affairs, and kept close communication and coordination in multi-lateral frameworks including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), contributing “positive energy” to the peace and stability in the region and the world at large. The China-Kazakhstan relationship has become a model for good-neighborly friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation.

Cheng Guoping pointed out that this visit, as the second visit to be paid by President Xi Jinping since last year, serves as sound extension of close high-level exchanges and embodies the high level of China-Kazakhstan relations and the high-level mutual strategic trust. President Xi Jinping will, together with President Nursultan Nazarbayev, draw development blueprint for the China-Kazakhstan mutually beneficial cooperation in all fields including promoting the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and coordinating the stances of both sides on a series of major programs. They will also have in-depth exchanges of views on international and regional topics of common interest. It is believed that this visit will surely and further uplift the China-Kazakhstan relations, enhance bilateral mutual political trust, and promote the mutually beneficial cooperation in all fields for comprehensive progress.

As for President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Belarus, Cheng Guoping introduced that Belarus is a nation enjoying traditional friendship with China in Eurasian region. Since the establishment of comprehensive strategic partnership in July, 2013, China and Belarus have enjoyed increasingly frequent exchanges at all levels, constantly improved cooperation mechanism, and comprehensively upgraded cooperation in all areas, and the bilateral relations have stepped into an important phase of accelerated development.

Cheng Guoping noted that this visit, as the first visit to be paid by a Chinese President in 14 years, accords with the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression as well as the world anti-fascist war, and plays a significant role in leading the China-Belarus comprehensive strategic partnership to inherit the past and usher into the future and open up a new chapter. During his visit to Belarus, President Xi Jinping will hold talks and meetings respectively with President Alexander Lukashenko, Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov and other Belarusian leaders, attend the opening ceremony of China-Belarus Local Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum, visit the Belarusian Great Patriotic War Museum, meet with the representatives of Belarusian veterans of the World War II, and inspect the China-Belarus Industrial Park, the largest cooperative project in investment between the two countries. The two heads of state will sign a China-Belarus treaty on friendly cooperation and sign and issue a joint statement on further developing and deepening bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership. The departments and enterprises of the two sides will also sign a number of cooperative documents covering economy, trade, customs, education, culture and other sectors. It is believed that President Xi Jinping’s visit will make top-level design and comprehensive plan for further developing and deepening China-Belarus relations, intensify bilateral practical cooperation in all fields and bilateral coordination and cooperation in international and regional affairs, boost people-to-people and cultural exchanges and local cooperation between the two countries, and consolidate China-Belarus traditional friendship.