President Xi arrives in Brunei for state visit

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Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Brunei on Sunday for a state visit at the invitation of Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam, after the just-ended Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting.

Xi's visit, scheduled to last from November 18 to 20, is the first by a Chinese head of state in 13 years to the Southeastern Asian country.

Xi was warmly welcomed by Bruneian senior officials at the airport.

On behalf of the Chinese government and people, Xi extended sincere greetings and best wishes to the Brunei government and its people.

Xi stressed that China and Brunei are close neighbors across the sea, and also friends and partners who trust each other, as the two sides have a long history of friendly exchange.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties 27 years ago, the two countries have been treating each other as equals, and earned deepening political mutual trust and fruitful results in various cooperations, which brought tangible benefits to the people of the two countries and made positive contributions to peace and prosperity in the region, said Xi.

He expects to carry forward bilateral traditional friendship, jointly outline a blueprint for the development of bilateral relations in the new era, and uplift the China-Brunei good-neighborly friendship to a new high through the visit.

Xi and Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah will have an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral ties and on regional and international issues of common concern.

Ahead of the visit, Xi's signed article titled "Jointly Write a New Chapter of China-Brunei Relations" has been published on Brunei newspapers.

In 1991, China and Brunei established diplomatic relations, and in 2013, the two countries furthered their bilateral ties to a strategic cooperative relationship.

"The China-Brunei relationship has been as good as ever, setting a good example of relations between countries of different sizes based on equality and mutual benefit for common development," President Xi wrote in the article.

China is currently Brunei's largest source of imports, and more and more Chinese enterprises are investing in Brunei.

It is the second stop of Xi's ongoing Asia-Pacific tour. He has paid a state visit to Papua New Guinea, met with leaders from Pacific island countries that have diplomatic ties with China and attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting in Papua New Guinea's capital city of Port Moresby.

After his stay in Brunei, Xi will fly to the Philippines for a state visit.