The China-Belarus industrial park Great Stone has commissioned its first residential building, for employees of companies based in the park.

The industrial park is the largest joint project between China and Belarus, and is being created as a working platform for high-tech companies.

The 156-apartment building was constructed by the China Railway 25th Bureau Group.

The industrial park's development is key to deepening the partnership between Belarus and China, Belarusian Deputy Economy Minister Elena Perminova said after the commissioning ceremony.

The Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Belarus and the Chinese Engineering Corporation CAMC (CAMCE) have been cooperating on the creation of the industrial park. As of April this year there were 43 companies with operations there.

Great Stone Industrial Park is a territorial unit of Belarus with the status of special economic zone and special regime for doing business. It is located 25 kilometres from Minsk in the Smolevichi district between the Petrovichi reservoir and Minsk National Airport, with total area of 112 square kilometres.

It benefits from a free customs regime within the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which is an international economic union made up of countries located in northern Eurasia. The founding member states, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia established the union by treaty and entered into force on January 1 2015.

In June this year Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Bishkek, the capital city of Kyrgyzstan, agreeing to promote cooperation in various fields including the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).