Premier Li Keqiang (right)?meets with Belarusian Prime Minister Andrey Kobyakov in Riga, Latvia, on Nov 5.

Premier Li Keqiang will seek to deepen bilateral relations with the Republic of Belarus when he meets with Belarusian Prime Minister Andrey Kobyakov in Riga, Latvia, on Nov 5.

Belarus is a close friend of China and an important partner in Europe, and China is willing to maintain good momentum for the growth of bilateral relations and keep closer high-level exchanges, said the premier.

He added that China also looks to strengthen cooperation on production capacity and equipment manufacturing, and deepen people-to-people exchanges with Belarus to boost friendly cooperation between the two countries.

In September, President Xi Jinping held a fruitful meeting with his Belarusian counterpart when the two countries established an all-around strategic partnership, and welcomed Belarus as an observer participating in the meeting between China and the Central and Eastern European countries.

Premier Li Keqiang?meets with Belarusian Prime Minister Andrey Kobyakov in Riga, Latvia, on Nov 5.

Kobyakov said that Belarus is willing to embrace new opportunities to develop bilateral relations with China, enhance cooperation on production capacity and equipment manufacturing, and boost trade, financial and tourism cooperation to push forward sound development of the two countries' partnership.