China, Brunei raise relations to strategic partnership

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China and Brunei on Monday agreed to upgrade their relations to a strategic cooperative partnership. The consensus was reached during talks between visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brunei's Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah.

Planning for future

During the talks, President Xi said China appreciates Brunei's firm adherence to the one-China policy and will continue to support Brunei in pursuing a development path that suits its own national conditions.

China sees Brunei as an important partner for cooperation in building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and is willing to align the Belt and Road Initiative with Brunei's Wawasan 2035, a strategy for economic diversification, in a bid to boost the mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries, he said.

As for the South China Sea, President Xi said that China appreciates the dual-track approach proposed by Brunei: Disputes should be handled through friendly consultation by parties concerned and countries in the region should jointly safeguard stability in the South China Sea.

For his part, Hassanal said that Brunei and China have enjoyed a long history of friendship and bilateral relations have continuously developed on the basis of mutual respect and benefit.

Brunei admires China for its remarkable achievements in poverty reduction and sustainable development, and is willing to promote synergy and cooperation between the Wawasan 2035 and the Belt and Road Initiative, Hassanal said.

He said that Brunei highly appreciates the important role of China in fostering global stability and prosperity, tackling climate change, safeguarding multilateral trading system, and promoting regional economic integration, and is grateful to China for supporting the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) cooperation.

Joint statement issued

The two leaders deemed Xi's visit as "successful" and of "strategic importance" to the deepening of relations, said the statement issued after the talks.

Both countries agreed to maintain frequent high-level exchanges, strengthen their strategic partnership and bilateral relations, and exchange views on regional and international issues.

They also resolved to work together to further strengthen the synergy of their respective national development strategies.

Areas cited for strengthening relations include bilateral trade and investment cooperation, defense, security and law enforcement.

The two sides expressed satisfaction with the progress of cooperation in the energy sector and agreed to continue to support relevant enterprises in the two countries to cooperate in the areas of maritime oil and gas resources, in accordance with the principles of international law and the principle of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit.

China and Brunei acknowledged the positive progress of cooperation in the fields of legal and judicial affairs, education, culture, religion, tourism, health, sports and youth and reiterated the importance of further expanding people-to-people exchanges.

In the statement, both sides welcomed the improving cooperation between China and ASEAN member states in the South China Sea.

Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining peace, stability and security, and the importance of continuing exercising self-restraint by all parties concerned and the promotion of mutual trust and confidence in the South China Sea.

They underscored the importance of resolving territorial and jurisdictional disputes through peaceful dialogue and consultations by sovereign states directly concerned in accordance with universally recognized principles of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The two nations agreed to strengthen coordination and cooperation within various multilateral frameworks.

(Source: Xinhua News Agency)