CIDCA vice-chairman meets with ministers of finance and communication of Solomon Islands

Zhong Haidong, vice-chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), met with the Solomon Islands' Minister of Finance and Treasury Harry Kuma and Minister of Communication and Aviation Peter Shanel Agovaka on July 4, 2023.

Zhong said that China attaches great importance to developing ties with the Solomon Islands, regards it as a major cooperation partner, and supports the country's socioeconomic development and improvements to the people's livelihoods. Under the guidance of the key consensuses reached between the two heads of state, bilateral relations have maintained steady development and the pragmatic cooperation between the two countries has yielded fruitful results, he noted. China is ready to strengthen policy alignment and communication and expand pragmatic cooperation in the eight major areas under the Global Development Initiative, in a bid to push for new achievements in bilateral cooperation which in turn will benefit the people of both countries, he said.

The ministers acknowledged the significant progress made in bilateral cooperation in various fields and thanked China for its selfless assistance to the Solomon Islands in such areas as COVID-19 response, the construction of infrastructure for the 2023 Pacific Games, rural development and broadband network construction. They pledged to continue to explore cooperation with China in such areas as transportation, finance and aviation, and to strive for continuous development of bilateral ties.

The two sides also held in-depth exchanges on specific cooperation matters. Deputy Director-General of the CIDCA's Second Department of Regional Affairs Cai Fang also attended the meeting.