Wang Yi meets foreign officials on sidelines of UN Summit of Future

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday met with several foreign officials on the sidelines of the UN Summit of the Future in New York.

Greater, sustained development of China-Panama ties

During a meeting with his Panamanian counterpart Javier Martinez-Acha Vasquez, Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, called for the sustained and all-round development of bilateral ties.

Panama was the first Latin American country to support and participate in the building of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and is China's largest trading partner in Central America, Wang noted, adding that China is Panama's primary trading partner.

China is ready to consolidate political mutual trust and promote practical cooperation with Panama, and will provide support and assistance with its capacity for Panama's economic and social development, said Wang.

He called for maintaining the political foundation of bilateral relations, and pushing for the sustained and all-round development of China-Panama relations to release more dividends for the Panamanian people.

Martinez-Acha said the Panamanian side attaches great importance to its relations with China, and will unswervingly adhere to the one-China principle and will never support "Taiwan independence."

He said Panama welcomes more Chinese enterprises to invest in Panama, vowing to enhance cooperation in areas such as infrastructure with China, and further maintain close people-to-people exchanges to push for greater development of bilateral ties.

Promoting high-level China-Indonesia community with a shared future

While meeting with Indonesian Coordinator for Cooperation with China and Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Wang said China is willing to work with Indonesia to continue to deepen all-round strategic cooperation, and promote the building of a community with a shared future to a new level to assist their respective modernization processes and bring more benefits to the two peoples.

He called for maintaining high-level exchanges, and pushing for the high-level building of the China-Indonesia community with a shared future.

It is imperative to improve the level of economic, trade and investment cooperation and operate the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway with high quality, Wang said, urging joint efforts to resist unilateralism and protectionism, refrain from forming small circles, and oppose the politicization of economic and trade issues.

Luhut said Indonesia will continue its friendship with China and promote greater development of relations between the two countries.

He expressed hope of working with China to open up new areas of cooperation in areas such as traditional Chinese medicine, seaweed industrialization and key minerals.

Pushing China-Ethiopia cooperation to new stage

In meeting with Ethiopian Foreign Minister Taye Atske Selassie, Wang said the two countries should take advantage of the outcomes of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation to push cooperation in various fields to new heights.

He called on both sides to continue to uphold mutual support, deepen practical cooperation and enhance the alignment of their development strategies.

As major developing countries and important members of the Global South, China and Ethiopia both uphold justice, he said, urging efforts to strengthen coordination and cooperation in international and regional affairs, and make greater contributions to world peace and development.

Atske Selassie said Ethiopia attaches great importance to its relations with China, firmly adheres to the one-China policy, and looks forward to expanding cooperation in various fields.

On international and regional affairs, Ethiopia highly agrees with China, he said, pledging to strengthen coordination and cooperation, jointly oppose unilateralism and hegemony, and safeguard international fairness and justice.

China-Hungary ties experiencing 'best period in history'

While meeting with Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto, Wang said China-Hungary relations have been upgraded to an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership in the new era, entering the "golden channel" and experiencing a historic high.

He called on both sides to promote closer alignment of national development strategies, expand cooperation in various fields and strive to yield more cooperation results.

As the current international situation has entered a period of turbulence and change, China and Hungary should strengthen strategic communication and inject more stability into the world.

Stressing that China and Europe are partners, not rivals, Wang said the tone of bilateral relations is cooperation, not competition, and the development prospects are win-win, not confrontation.

Protectionist practices will only harm the interests of European consumers and aggravate trade tensions between China and Europe, he said, adding that properly resolving conflicts and differences through consultation is the correct way out.

He expressed the hope that the European Union (EU) will adopt a more pragmatic and rational policy towards China and promote the sound and stable development of China-EU relations.

Szijjarto said Hungary-China relations have a new positioning and highlighted the need to continuously enrich cooperation.

Imposing additional tariffs won't solve the problem and will only lead to a lose-lose situation, he said, adding that European countries need China to improve their competitiveness, and EU-China economic and trade cooperation will help Europe's development.

Hungary is willing to promote the stable development of EU-China relations, he added.

(Cover: File photo of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. /CFP)