DM Monitoring
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: China and Brunei have vowed to further develop bilateral relations and deepen and upgrade their cooperation in all sectors.
The pledge came after Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday held talks with Haji Erywan, Brunei’s second minister of foreign affairs and Haji Mohd Amin Liew, minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and second minister of finance and economy, and co-chaired the second meeting of the China-Brunei intergovernmental joint steering committee.
Wang said facing the sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Brunei, under the guidance of the heads of state from the two countries, have stood together and helped each other in fighting the virus, becoming the first countries to walk out of the shadow of the pandemic.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Brunei and the 30th anniversary of the dialogue relations between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which also coincides with Brunei’s assumption of the rotating chair of ASEAN, Wang said.
Both sides should seize the opportunities by focusing on the two themes of fighting the pandemic and development, and map out cooperation on the bilateral and multilateral levels, upgrade bilateral cooperation in all fields guided by the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, so as to push the China-Brunei and China-ASEAN relations to a new high and benefit the peoples of the two countries and the region.
China is willing to maintain high-level exchanges with Brunei, make the celebrations of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties a success, sum up experiences of the development of relations in the past 30 years and work out development prospects for ties for the next 30 years, Wang said. The Chinese state councilor called for efforts to strengthen cooperation on fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, open “fast tracks” for personnel movement, plan and build “green lanes” for goods movement, and maintain the stability of industry chains and supply chains. On COVID-19 vaccine, Wang said China supports domestic enterprises in cooperating with the Bruneian side.
Wang also called on both sides to push forward the work of the China-Brunei intergovernmental joint steering committee towards the set goals. Wang called for efforts towards the steady progress in the two flagship projects, namely the Hengyi Industries Sdn Bhd’s oil refinery and petrochemical project and the Brunei-Guangxi Economic Corridor, under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Both sides should also sustain the development momentum in bilateral economic, trade and investment cooperation, cultivate new growth points in the sectors including 5G, digital economy, artificial intelligence (AI) and big data application, expand cooperation in the fields of agriculture and tourism, among others, and enhance bilateral exchanges in the areas of higher education and students.
Stressing that China is willing to provide more development opportunities for Brunei, Wang said his country welcomes Brunei’s participation in the China-ASEAN Expo and the China International Import Expo (CIIE), as well as in building the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor.
