Dominica's PM meets China's President Xi Jinping

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Prime Minister of Dominica Roosevelt Skerrit in Beijing on Monday.

Noting that Dominica is an important country in the Caribbean, as well as a trustworthy good friend and partner of China in the region, President Xi said the two countries have always respected each other and treated each other as equals since the establishment of diplomatic ties 20 years ago.

With increasing political mutual trust, vigorous exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and deepening friendship between the two peoples, China-Dominica relations have become a good example of South-South cooperation, he added.

China highly appreciates Dominica's steadfast friendship, Xi said. China is willing to work with Dominica to synergize their development strategies and turn the friendly relations into a driving force for win-win cooperation to achieve more results and deliver more benefits to the two peoples, he said.

President Xi Jinping meets with Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica Roosevelt Skerrit in Beijing on March 25, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

Xi stressed that the key to the sound development of China-Dominica relations lies in the high level of political mutual trust, as well as mutual understanding and support on issues involving each other's core interests and major concerns.

China firmly supports the people of Dominica in following a development path suited to its national conditions and stands ready to bolster friendly exchanges and strengthen sharing of experience on governance with the Dominican side, he added.

China welcomes the Dominican side to board the "express train" of Chinese modernization to expand bilateral cooperation in trade and economy, infrastructure construction, agriculture, health care and other fields, Xi said, noting that China will continue to provide assistance within its capacity for Dominica's economic and social development.

China is willing to promote cultural and people-to-people exchanges with the Dominican side, welcomes more Dominican students to study in China, and will continue to provide scholarships and training programs, Xi said.

He added the two sides should jointly develop the Confucius Classroom at the Dominica State College, and explore more cooperation in vocational and technical training in Dominica.

Prime Minister Skerrit also met with China's top legislator - Chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, Zhao Leji.

He noted that since the establishment of diplomatic ties 20 years ago, the bilateral relations between the two countries have made great progress, bringing tangible benefits to the two peoples.

Zhao said China is willing to work with Dominica to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries and support each other on issues involving each other's core interests and major concerns.

Zhao called on both sides to jointly implement the Global Development Initiative and promote the development of friendly and cooperative relations between China and Dominica.

The NPC of China is willing to strengthen friendly exchanges with the parliament of Dominica, exchange experience on state governance and provide legal guarantee for bilateral cooperation in various fields, Zhao said.

Noting that Dominica and China are examples of mutual trust, mutual support, and mutually beneficial cooperation, Skerrit thanked China for its long-term valuable assistance to Dominica.

Dominica firmly abides by the one-China principle, supports the Belt and Road Initiative and the three global initiatives, and stands ready to continuously deepen bilateral friendly cooperation, Skerrit said.

(Xinhua)