State Councilor and Foreign Minister H.E. Wang Yi became the first high level official from China to visit Samoa since COVID 19.
Samoa was included in the high level Government official swing visit to other Pacific island countries.
The State Councilor and Foreign Minister will arrived on Friday night 27 May 2022 from Kiribati and flew out again yesterday, Saturday 28 May 2022.
While in Apia he paid a courtesy call on the Head of State, Afioga Tuimaleali’ifano Va’aleto’a Sualauvi II at his residence Vailele, on Saturday morning 28th May 2022.
A bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister Hon Fiame Naomi Mataafa at the STA Fale followed where the discussions included the signing of :
• the Economic & Technical Cooperation Agreement for projects to be determined and mutually agreed between the respective Countries.
• the Handover Certificate for the completed Arts & Culture Centre and the Samoa –China Friendship Park and
• the Exchange of Letters for the Fingerprint laboratory for Police complementary to the construction of the Police Academy.
China is a key development partner for Samoa providing infrastructural developments in the health, education and public administration sectors, human resource development, sports development and technical cooperation in the agriculture sector.
Key to the bilateral relations between China and Samoa is the adherence to the one China principle.
A statement from the Chinese Embassy at Vailima described the visit as a deepening of “…the friendly and cooperative relationship between China and relevant countries, and contributes to peace, stability and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific.
Ever since the establishment of China-Samoa diplomatic relations, our two countries and peoples have forged a profound and deep-rooted friendship through exchanges and cooperation.
This visit will deepen the friendly and cooperative relationship between China, further enhance the political mutual trust between our two countries, elevate our cooperation in various sectors and bring new vitality to the long-term development of bilateral relations.
Our mutual trust will be unceasingly consolidated. An ancient Chinese philosopher once noted, “In interactions with friends, one should keep his words and always be trustworthy.”
Our two countries always count on each other’s understanding and support on our respective core interests, ushering in a promised future of our long-standing friendship.
The high-level exchanges will push forward our bilateral exchanges to a new height.
Our joint endeavor to advance mutual benefits would be re-emphasized.
As one of the first Pacific Island countries to join the Belt and Road Initiative, Samoa has advanced great progress in bilateral trade volume with an increase of almost 70 times in 20 years, being a new star shining on the platforms as China International Import Expo and China Import and Export Fair.
China has stays committed to providing economic and technical assistance to PICs including Samoa with no political strings attached, with aid projects, in-kind assistance, and training provided in various fields and would like to further provide more benefits to Samoa and the region countries.
Our focus on promoting peoples’ welfare has long been strengthened. China has been conducting large scales of Agricultural Technical Aid Project in Samoa, bringing techniques for more than 10,000 local families. In April last year, Chinese forensic pathologists arrived to provide short services.
By now, more than 20 infrastructure projects have been completed, promoting benefits for Samoan people’s need. China will always stand with Samoa to provide more benefits to our both countries and peoples.
Our willingness to expand people-to-people bonds has been highlighted through our relationship.
Since the 1980s, China have continuously dispatched more than 130 medical personnel in 19 batches to voluntarily serve in Samoa, providing medical service to more than 80,000 patients.
To date, more than 5,000 Samoan people went to China to pursue training in various sectors.
Over 1,000 local people studied Chinese language and culture at the Confucius Institute at the NUS. With much strengthened people-to-people ties, China-Samoa friendship is sure to last from generation to generation.
Our commitments to tackle the global challenges has never changed. China understands the special difficulties of Samoa in tackling climate change.
In recent years, projects such as Solar streetlights has been launched and financial assistance provided to SPREP. Since the outbreak of pandemic, China and Samoa have worked together and gained fruitful results in information sharing, experience exchange, and cooperation on financial and medical supplies.
Medical equipment which worth of $1.53 million were provided to Samoa to assist its response to coronavirus. A total of US$550,000 has been provided to Samoa government through China-Pacific Island Countries Joint COVID-19 Response Fund to tackle the pandemic.
During his visit, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will also host the second China-Pacific Island Countries Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Fiji.
This will be the first time that a meeting under the mechanism will be held in a Pacific Island Country.
Parties to the meeting will have in-depth exchange of views on such issues as China-Pacific Island Countries relations, exchanges and cooperation across the board, and international and regional cooperation.
It is believed that the meeting will play an important role in promoting the solidarity and cooperation between China and Pacific Island Countries and strengthening China-Pacific Island Countries relations.