On January 10, President Xi Jinping held talks with Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu during the latter’s state visit to China. The two heads of state decided to upgrade the China-Maldives relations to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, and witnessed the signing of the action plan on building a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between China and the Maldives and a number of bilateral cooperation documents on the Belt and Road Initiative, disaster management, economy and technology, blue economy, digital economy, green development, infrastructure and people’s livelihood.

China and the Maldives are traditionally friendly neighbors. In recent years, China-Maldives commercial relations have deepened. Bilateral cooperation in various fields including the Belt and Road Initiative has delivered fruitful results. From January to November 2023, the bilateral trade was close to USD 700 million, up by 75.2% year-on-year. China-Maldives cooperation on people’s livelihood and infrastructure has moved forward on the basis of mutual respect and equal treatment. More and more Chinese companies are investing in the Maldives. China has always provided assistance to the Maldives and supporting its economic and social development within its best capacity. The China-Maldives Friendship Bridge, the Velana International Airport expansion project, and housing projects have greatly improved the lives of local people. The Maldives has always been a popular tourist destination for Chinese people.

Going forward, MOFCOM is willing to work with its Maldivian counterpart to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, promote investment cooperation in green development, digital economy and blue economy, upgrade the level of China-Maldives economic and trade cooperation, and promote the continuous development of China-Maldives comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. Thank you.