Suva, 31 May 2022 (TDI): Wang Yi, State Councilor and Foreign Minister of China, met with Henry Puna, Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), in Suva on May 29, 2022.
Since his appointment as Secretary General, Wang Yi has praised Puna’s efforts to promote friendly exchange and cooperation between the PIF and China.
Stating that the PIF is the most representative intergovernmental organization in the South Pacific region. Wang Yi said that China has always valued the PIF’s important role in regional affairs, sending representatives to the PIF for more than 30 years.
Wang Yi stated that China supports PICs in supporting the Blue Pacific Continent 2050 Strategy.
China is willing to explore cooperation in sectors such as marine ecological preservation, e-commerce, and others in order to develop new growth areas.
Wang Yi emphasized that China did not visit the South Pacific region for the first time today; it has had diplomatic relations with PICs for nearly half a century.
China is willing to engage in more trilateral cooperation with other countries, particularly those with traditional regional influence, in order to strengthen complementarity and pool efforts to assist PICs in strengthening their capacity for independent development and accelerating development and revitalization.
Secretary General of Pacific Island forum, Henry Puna’s remarks :
Puna stated that China is a critical conversation and development partner for PICs and that it has long contributed invaluable contributions to their growth.
PIF is looking forward to enhancing the synergy of development strategies with China. Expanding cooperation in various fields such as economy and trade, education, blue economy, and others.
Furthermore, they talked about making full use of China’s development opportunities, particularly the digital economy’s advantage, to achieve sustainable and diversified development.
Henry Puna concluded by praising China’s tremendous efforts to combat climate change, praising the construction of the China-Pacific Island Countries Climate Action Center in China, and expressing his desire to work with China to put the Paris Agreement into action.
