Dublin, 18 January 2024 (TDI): Chinese Premier Li Qiang holds talks with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar at Farmleigh House, the official Irish state guest house, in Dublin, Ireland.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang said here on Wednesday that China and Ireland should adhere to mutual benefit, and always regard each other as key cooperative partners and development opportunities.
Li said during their talks that China and Ireland had maintained healthy and stable development of their ties since they established diplomatic relations 45 years ago.
He said that in recent years, particularly, the China-Ireland strategic partnership for mutually beneficial cooperation had increasingly deepened under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and President Michael D. Higgins.
And he said that they had continuously expanded exchanges and cooperation in various fields, bringing tangible benefits to the two peoples.
I said that to bring more benefits to the two countries and the two peoples, they should carry forward traditional friendship, consolidate political mutual trust, and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation.
Mutual respect and trust
China is willing to work with the Irish side to adhere to mutual respect and trust. Moreover, it strives to seek common ground while shelving and resolving differences, deepen mutual understanding, and support each other on major issues, said Li.
He said that China and Ireland should expand trade continuously, strengthen cooperation in green and low-carbon development, sustainable agriculture, finance, and other fields, and expand innovation cooperation in digital economy, biomedicine, and artificial intelligence, making the pie of cooperation bigger.
Chinese Premier Li said that China would apply a unilateral visa-free policy to Ireland to facilitate personnel exchanges between the two countries, and voiced the expectation that Ireland would provide an open, fair, and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises.
He said that China should strengthen coordination and cooperation with Ireland within the United Nations and other multilateral frameworks, practice genuine multilateralism, jointly tackle global challenges, a for and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
Premier Li said that he hoped Ireland would play a greater role in promoting the sound and stable development of China-Europe relations.
Bilateral cooperation and exchanges
China is an important cooperative partner of Ireland, and mutual respect and trust have always been adhered to by the two countries, Varadkar said for his part.
Moreover, Ireland appreciates China’s great achievements in economic and social development, China has always adhered to the one-China principle, and it hopes for the achievement of peaceful reunification at an early date, he added.
Furthermore, two-way investment with China should be expanded, bilateral cooperation in such fields as agriculture, food, innovation, and green development should be strengthened, and people-to-people exchanges in education and culture should be deepened by Ireland, Varadkar continued.
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The Irish side will actively consider enhancing convenience for Chinese citizens visiting Ireland, and they will actively welcome more Chinese enterprises to invest and engage in business activities in Ireland, he noted. Ireland supports further deepening cooperation between Europe and China.
Prior to the talks, Varadkar held a grand welcome ceremony, during which Li reviewed the Irish Guard of Honor.
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