Prime Minister Bob Loughman of Vanuatu Leads Key Cabinet Members to Hold Collective Talks with Wang Yi

On June 1, 2022 local time, Prime Minister Bob Loughman of Vanuatu led key cabinet members, including Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and External Trade and Minister of Finance and Economic Management, to hold collective talks with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Port Vila.

Loughman spoke highly of the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China with Xi Jinping at its core, and congratulated China on successfully achieving the first centenary goal and completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects. Loughman welcomed the Chinese delegation's historic visit to Vanuatu, saying that this visit has released an important signal that China is committed to continuously pushing forward Vanuatu-China relations. Loughman said, since the establishment of diplomatic ties 40 years ago, China and Vanuatu have enjoyed mutual trust and firm solidarity. Vanuatu sincerely thanks China for its long-term and tremendous contributions to Vanuatu's steady and sustainable development. China has proved to be a true friend of Vanuatu with concrete actions. Vanuatu will continue to take adhering to the one-China principle as the political cornerstone, and give play to the steering role of Belt and Road cooperation, so as to constantly elevate Vanuatu-China comprehensive strategic partnership to new heights.

Wang Yi thanked Prime Minister Loughman for leading key cabinet members to hold collective talks with the Chinese delegation at the China-aided Vanuatu National Convention Center. This fully demonstrates the great importance Vanuatu attaches to bilateral relations and the high level of bilateral cooperation. Wang Yi said, since the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Vanuatu 40 years ago, the two sides have trusted and supported each other and treated each other like family members, leaving behind many touching stories of friendship, and setting a good example of mutual respect, solidarity and coordination between developing countries. China is ready to work with Vanuatu to take stock of successful experience and chart the course for the next four decades of bilateral relations, so as to constantly inject new impetus into the building of a China-Vanuatu community with a shared future.

The two sides had in-depth exchanges on advancing bilateral relations and enhancing cooperation in international and regional affairs, and reached extensive consensus.

First, enhance political mutual trust. The two sides agreed to carry forward the tradition of mutual respect and treating each other as equals, and continue to firmly support each other in safeguarding core interests and national dignity. The two sides also agreed to strengthen inter-party exchanges and experience-sharing on state governance to improve national governance capacity.

Second, stay committed to mutual benefit and win-win results. The two sides agreed to synergize development strategies, tap the potential of cooperation, jointly advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, make optimum use of development opportunities offered by China, and expand the export of Vanuatu's quality products to China. The two sides will develop a Blue Partnership. While continuously advancing cooperation in traditional areas such as infrastructure, the two sides will further explore new cooperation priorities such as new energy and digital economy to help Vanuatu enhance its capacity for self-driven development and boost its international competitiveness.

Third, carry forward the friendship between the peoples. The two sides agreed to strengthen personnel exchanges and cement the social foundation and public support for China-Vanuatu relations. Wang Yi said, China welcomes Vanuatu's inclusion of Chinese language education in its national education system, and will continue to support Vanuatu's Chinese language teaching by sending Chinese teachers and conducting two-way language and cultural exchanges, so as to cultivate more "envoys of friendship" between the two countries. China will continue to work with Vanuatu to fight the pandemic, and send a new batch of medical teams to help Vanuatu defend people's health.

Fourth, deepen strategic coordination. The two sides agreed to uphold true multilateralism, stick to fighting the pandemic in solidarity, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. Loughman spoke highly of the Global Development Initiative put forward by President Xi Jinping, and expressed Vanuatu's readiness to take an active part in it. Wang Yi appreciated this and said that Vanuatu is welcome to support the Global Security Initiative, act on the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and make positive contributions to safeguarding world peace.

Fifth, strengthen regional cooperation. The two sides hold that bilateral cooperation and the China-Pacific Island Countries Foreign Ministers' Meeting mechanism should serve as the "twin engines" to make concerted efforts to accelerate common development.

Wang Yi introduced the important content of China's just-released Position Paper on Mutual Respect and Common Development with Pacific Island Countries, saying that the Position Paper has sent a clear signal that China is ready to deepen political mutual trust, expand mutually beneficial cooperation and safeguard common interests with Pacific Island Countries (PICs), and that China has made comprehensive plans and proposed concrete measures for bilateral cooperation in the next stage. China's cooperation with PICs is aboveboard, open and transparent. We will continue to work with PICs in the spirit of solidarity and mutual assistance, and forge ahead hand in hand.

Loughman said, Vanuatu spoke highly of the important role of the China-Pacific Island Countries Foreign Ministers' Meeting mechanism, saying that he was heartened by the vision and proposal put forward in China's Position Paper. He appreciates China's continued efforts to build six new platforms for bilateral cooperation, and firmly believes that cooperation with China will better help PICs seize development opportunities, and will further enhance bilateral cooperation between PICs and China.

After the talks, the two sides attended the signing ceremony of cooperation documents on economic technology, medical and health care, and marine economy, among others.

Before the talks and after the signing ceremony, the Grand Chief of Vanuatu also specifically held a traditional welcome ceremony with Melanesian characteristics for the Chinese delegation.