April 11, 2019 marks the official start of a new era for China and Jamaica as the Caribbean country joins China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two countries was signed by Tian Qi, China's ambassador to Jamaica, and Kamina Johnson-Smith, Jamaica's minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade.

Chinese ambassador to Jamaica, Tian Qi expressed that the Belt and Road Initiative has obtained fruitful achievements in the six years since its launch in 2013.

He hoped that both parties can focus on development, improve the cooperation level and fulfill the sustainable development goals in the 2030 Agenda, better promoting connections between China and Caribbean countries in policy, infrastructure, trade, finance, and people-to-people exchanges.

Jamaica is one of the Caribbean countries to first express their willingness to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative. The strong cooperation between two countries in recent years has brought Jamaican people real benefits and Jamaica is grateful for that, said Kamina Johnson-Smith.

The signing of MoU would open a new era of friendly relations between the two countries. Jamaica will further take advantage of historic development opportunities in China, better cooperate with China's development strategy, and carry out mutually-beneficial cooperation at a higher level, according to Jamaica's minister.

She believed that with joint efforts between China and the Caribbean area, the Belt and Road must yield more fruitful results, helping to achieve mutual benefits and common development between China, Jamaica as well as other Caribbean countries.