China willing to advance ties with Suriname into new stage: FM

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Europe

00:27

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has agreed with Surinamese leading officials to deepen practical cooperation between the two countries, and coordinate with each other on international affairs more closely.

The consensus came out of Wang's current historic visit to the Latin American country, where he held talks with Suriname's president, vice-president and foreign minister on Sunday.

During his meeting with Surinamese President Desi Bouterse, the president said Suriname is committed to strengthening cooperation with China in infrastructure, tourism, culture, and people-to-people exchanges.

He stressed that his country will continue participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), saying this project will provide new impetus to the development of the bilateral ties.

The Surinamese president also expressed willingness to keep close communication with China on a range of global issues like development and aid, climate change, and human rights.

As the first Chinese foreign minister who visited Suriname, the Chinese state councilor echoed Bouterse's call for further coordination on international affairs, saying the two countries should understand and support each other on issues related to core interests and major concerns of both.

Wang also promised that China would cooperate with Suriname with no strings attached, and would consider Suriname's practical needs as top priority.

During Wang's meeting with Suriname's vice-president Ashwin Adhin, Wang emphasized that among all the cooperation in different fields, the two countries should improve people-to-people exchanges, and make the Confucius Institute at the Anton de Kom University of Suriname a success.

China is willing to continue collaboration on human resources, and provide training to more Surinamese for the country's development, Wang added.

Wang also called for more cooperation with Suriname on anti-corruption, while thanking the latter for providing support to China's efforts in recovering economic losses and extraditing fugitives in corruption cases.

Adhin noted that the Surinamese side will continuously participate in the co-building of the Belt and Road, expand cooperation with China in agriculture, energy, infrastructure, technology, medical and health, among other areas.

Suriname also highly evaluates China's position and role in international political and economic affairs, and applauds the achievements made by China in advancing its human rights work, Adhin stressed.

During Wang's talks with the Surinamese Foreign Minister Yldiz Pollack-Beighle, the two officials reaffirmed their countries' stance on expanding bilateral cooperation across the board and enhancing coordination in international affairs.