BEIJING: China and the Solomon Islands agreed on Monday to officially establish a comprehensive strategic partnership of mutual respect and common development in the new era, vowing to deepen cooperation in all areas, including trade and investment, climate change response and people-to-people exchanges.
The decision was announced by President Xi Jinping and Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare in a joint statement released after their meeting in Beijing.
The seven-day official visit, which began on Sunday, is Sogavare’s second visit to China since the Pacific Island country severed “diplomatic ties” with the Taiwan region and established diplomatic relations with China in 2019.
This time, one of the main tasks of Sogavare’s visit — which will also take him to Jiangsu and Guangdong provinces — is to inaugurate the Solomon Islands’ embassy in Beijing.
During their meeting at the Great Hall of the People, Xi said cooperation between China and the Solomon Islands has caught up over the past four years and has become a model of unity and cooperation among countries of different sizes and among developing nations.
China highly appreciates the Solomon Islands’ firm pursuit of the one-China principle and will also support the Pacific Island nation in following its own path of development, he said. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
