Full coverage: Belt and Road Initiative

Belarus is a beachhead for China to enter the European market. The two countries have been building a massive industrial park that is expected to lead the Silk Road Economic Belt into the continent.

Launched in 2014, it is 25 kilometers outside the capital city, Minsk and is China's biggest overseas industrial park. It aims to become a logistics hub but also a high-tech base. At least a dozen leading Chinese manufacturing firms have established offices inside the park, in sectors such as banking, logistics, and telecommunications.

China has also provided more than five billion US dollars in loans to Belarus for 23 projects. They include two thermal power plants, and the Vitebsk hydropower plant, the largest of its kind in the country.