Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday said that the media report that China wanted to sign a regional security agreement with Pacific Island countries (PICs) was fake news.

"China has come to the South Pacific region to build roads and bridges to improve people's livelihoods, not to station troops or establish military bases," said Wang.

Wang made the remarks when meeting reporters in Port Moresby, the capital city of Papua New Guinea, the last leg of his seven-country trip to the region that also included the Solomon Islands.

A bilateral security framework agreement between China and the Solomon Islands was reached at the request of the latter, according to the needs of the latter and after equal consultations between the two sides, with the aim of assisting the Solomon Islands in maintaining social stability, Wang said.

China and the Solomon Islands signed the security agreement in late March.

During a joint press conference with Solomon Islands' Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele days ago, Wang expounded on three principles of promoting the bilateral security cooperation between China and the Solomon Islands.

He outlined the principles as fully respecting the sovereignty of the Solomon Islands, helping the Pacific island nation in safeguarding its social stability, and proceeding in parallel with existing regional security arrangements.

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(Cover: An aerial view of Viti Levu, Fiji. /CFP)