On January 8, 2022 local time, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid in Malé.
Wang Yi said, this visit coincided with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of China-Maldives diplomatic relations. Looking back on the past 50 years, the two countries have always respected each other, treated each other as equals, helped each other sincerely, moved forward side by side, and firmly supported each other on issues related to respective core interests and major concerns. China-Maldives relations have become a model of friendly exchange, mutual benefit and win-win results between countries. China is willing to work with the Maldives to take the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations as an opportunity to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, deepen China-Maldives traditional friendship, focus on post-pandemic recovery cooperation, work together to build the Belt and Road, and elevate the China-Maldives future-oriented comprehensive friendly partnership of cooperation to a new level for the benefit of the two countries and the two peoples.
Wang Yi said, the two sides should continue to jointly build the high-quality Belt and Road, actively promote key projects such as infrastructure, housing and power grids around the Maldives, and implement seawater desalination projects, so as to boost the post-pandemic economic recovery of the Maldives. China supports the Maldives in its diversified development strategy, and stands ready to strengthen cooperation with the Maldives in digital, telecommunication and other emerging fields, and explore how to assist the Maldives in developing marine economy and addressing climate change. China welcomes more marketable products from the Maldives to enter the Chinese market.
Shahid congratulated the Communist Party of China on its founding centenary, and said it was of great significance that Chinese Foreign Minister visited the Maldives on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Maldives-China diplomatic relations. Maldives-China friendship has withstood the test of international changes. The Maldivian side firmly adheres to the one-China principle and works together with the Chinese side to uphold the basic norms governing international relations of sovereign equality, mutual respect and non-interference in internal affairs. The Maldives thanks China for its long-standing and strong support to the Maldives' economic and social development, and China has become the most important development partner of the Maldives. In the Maldives, Maldives-China friendship is well-known, and China's help to the Maldives can be seen everywhere. The results of the Belt and Road cooperation between the Maldives and China have been fruitful, benefiting people's livelihood and profoundly changing the face of Maldivian society. After the outbreak of the pandemic, China provided a large number of supplies and vaccines for the Maldives, which played a key role in helping the Maldives to achieve a high vaccination rate of 80 percent. The Maldives is willing to deepen practical cooperation with China, and hold a series of celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations to form a festive atmosphere that lasts throughout the year.
Wang Yi welcomes Shahid to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Winter Games as the President of the United Nations General Assembly. Shahid said, I am looking forward to my trip to Beijing and believe that the Beijing Olympic Winter Games will be a great success.
Both sides exchanged views on multilateral affairs, and agreed to strengthen communication and collaboration, jointly uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, oppose interference in other countries' internal affairs and safeguard international fairness and justice. Wang Yi said that China will continue to support Foreign Minister Shahid in smoothly performing his duties as the President of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly, and is willing to strengthen coordination with the United Nations General Assembly to promote the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, and inject strong momentum to speeding up the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Shahid highly appreciated China's long-standing support for the work of the United Nations General Assembly, and said that the pandemic fully demonstrated that only by adhering to multilateralism can we jointly address global challenges.
The two sides also exchanged views on the reform of Security Council, agreeing that the necessity to uphold the leadership of the Member States, adhere to reaching agreement through consultation, and jointly promote the reform of Security Council moving towards the right direction of accumulating mutual trust and building consensus among all parties.
After the talks, the two sides jointly witnessed the signing of cooperation agreements on mutual visa exemption, economic technology, infrastructure, seawater desalination and healthcare, and attended the launching ceremony of the official logo for the 50th anniversary of the establishment of China-Maldives diplomatic relations.
