Chinese Premier Li Qiang expressed Beijing´s willingness to boost trade and investment in Timor-Leste, in a meeting with timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta.
Li said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties 22 years ago, no matter how the international landscape has evolved, China and Timor-Leste have always understood and supported each other, deepened political mutual trust and achieved fruitful results in practical cooperation.
China is willing to work with Timor-Leste to further carry forward their traditional friendship, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation and achieve more results to better benefit the two peoples, Li added.
Noting that China will, as always, firmly support Timor-Leste in pursuing a development path suited to its own national conditions and in safeguarding its national sovereignty, security and development interests, Li said the two sides should further synergize their development strategies, deepen practical cooperation and inject more impetus into their respective modernization drives.
He said China is ready to strengthen cooperation with Timor-Leste in infrastructure and connectivity under the framework of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, expand mutually beneficial cooperation to a wider range of fields, and help Timor-Leste improve its independent development capabilities.
China is willing to import more quality products from Timor-Leste and encourage more Chinese enterprises to invest in Timor-Leste, Li said, adding that China is ready to deepen communication and coordination with Timor-Leste in multilateral areas, strengthen exchanges and cooperation on climate policy, support Timor-Leste‘s early accession to ASEAN, and jointly contribute to regional peace, stability, development and prosperity.
Noting that China was the first country to establish diplomatic relations with Timor-Leste, Ramos-Horta thanked China for its long-term support for Timor-Leste.
He said Timor-Leste highly appreciates China’s important role in international and regional affairs, firmly adheres to the one-China principle, supports and actively participates in the Belt and Road Initiative, welcomes Chinese enterprises to invest in Timor-Leste, and hopes to deepen cooperation with China in various fields.
At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, President of the Democratic Republic of Timor–Leste Jose Ramos-Horta is in China until the 31stof July. President Ramos-Horta’s first visit to China since he took office in 2022, and the first state visit to China by a timorese president since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 2002. After China´s visit Ramos Horta will visit Vietname from 1st to 4th of August.
Last September, President Xi and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao of Timor–Leste jointly announced the elevation of bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership, opening up a new chapter of bilateral relations
