Chinese President Xi Jinping and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko congratulated each other via telephone on the successful launch of a Belarusian telecom satellite by China on Saturday.
President Xi hailed the launch of the Belintersat-1 as a testament to the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries and an important achievement of bilateral space cooperation. It is believed the satellite will help bolster Belarus' economic growth and bring other benefits to the country.
The satellite was sent into the intended orbit from southwest China's Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 12:57 a.m. Beijing time on Saturday.
The satellite, carried by a Long March-3B rocket, is Belarus' first communications satellite. It is also the first time that China has launched a satellite for a European country.
President Xi also said that China is willing to join forces with Belarus to boost innovation in various fields and push Sino-Belarusian relations to higher levels, which serves the interests of both countries and both peoples.
President Lukashenko lauded the satellite's launch as a landmark achievement between the two countries.
The program, showcasing one of China's key achievements in space technology, also has great significance for Belarus' politics, economy, society and innovation, according to Lukashenko.
He said he hopes China would continue to achieve greater breakthroughs in the fields of space, technology and communications, which will be beneficial to all of humanity.
