On October 14th, 2022, H.E. Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China and H.E. Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, President of the Republic of Maldives exchanged congratulatory messages to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the Maldives.
President Xi Jinping reviewed that the China-Maldives friendly exchanges date back to ancient times. Over the past 50 years of diplomatic relations between China and the Maldives, the two countries have always respected and supported each other, which has set an good example of countries of different sizes treating each other as equals and seeking win-win cooperation. In recent years, the two countries tided over difficulties together and offered helping hands to each other, worked together to cope with the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic unseen in a century, deepened cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative as well as upheld and promoted the true multilateralism, which provided new impetus into and opened up new prospect for China-Maldives relations.
President Xi Jinping stressed, “I attach great importance to the development of China-Maldives relations. I’m ready to work with you to promote the steady development of China-Maldives future-oriented all-round friendly and cooperative partnership so as to bring more benefits to our two countries and peoples”.
President Solih highlighted that Maldives and China have always enjoyed a long history of friendship and cooperation. The last two decades have especially witnessed immense contribution from China to the social, cultural, and economic development of the Maldives. Solih stressed that the Maldives-China relationship is anchored in a strong foundation of shared historic bonds, sovereign equality and mutual respect for one another. It is also based on the Maldives’ firm commitment to the One-China Principle. President Solih is confident that the long-standing ties of friendship and collaboration that we have shared over the past 50 years will continue to deepen and widen.
H.E. Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, President of the Republic of Maldives also sent congratulatory messages to H.E. Li Keqiang, Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, and stressed that China continues to support and help Maldives reach new milestones in economic and social development, and is currently one of our most significant bilateral partners.
On October 14th, 2022, H.E. Wang Yi, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister and H.E. Abdulla Shahid, Maldivian Foreign Minister exchanged congratulatory messages to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the Maldives.
H.E. Wang Yi stressed that over the past 50 years of the diplomatic relations between China and the Maldives, China-Maldives relations have enjoyed healthy and stable development. Political trust between the two countries has been enhanced and cooperation in various fields had been strengthened. The two sides have firmly supported each other in international and regional affairs.
H.E. Wang Yi said, “I’m ready to work with you to implement the important consensus reached by the heads of state of our two countries and promote the China-Maldives future-oriented all-round friendly and cooperative partnership with greater development.”
H.E. Shahid expressed that over the past 50 years, the relationship between China and Maldives have stood the test of time. The contributions made by China towards the Maldives’ socio-economic development has been extraordinary. The Maldives will continue to make every effort to further improve its bilateral relations with China, which is founded upon our shared respect for each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the Maldives’ firm commitment to the One-China Principle.
