China, Monaco set example for relations between developing and developed countries

Note: The following article is taken from the Chinese-language "Commentaries on International Affairs".

China’s President Xi Jinping is paying a state visit to Monaco on Sunday at the invitation of Prince Albert II. It’s the first time that a Chinese head of state has visited Monaco since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1995. It sends out a strong message to the outside world that neither size nor the distance should prevent two countries from forging an equal, friendly, and mutually beneficial partnership.

Monaco's carabinier guards stand in front of the Monaco Palace on March 22, 2019 in Monaco, where China and Monaco flags have been set on windows two days ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit. [Photo: VCG]

Compared with China, Monaco is a tiny country, the second-smallest country in the world, covering just 2.02 square kilometers. But its per capita income stands above 170,000 euro (around 192,000 US dollars), among the world’s highest..

When Prince Albert II visited Beijing last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that, though far away from each other, China and Monaco have set a model of friendship and common development between big and small countries, as the two countries respected each other and treated each other on an equal footing.

A good example is bilateral cooperation in the telecommunications industry. After Monaco Telecom started cooperating with China’s Huawei in 2012, the two launched the world’s first 1Gb fixed-line services in the Principality in 2016 and expanded to upgrade mobile connections a year later. Last September, the two companies signed a deal for 5G cooperation, which is set to make Monaco the world’s first country covered by a 5G network. This latest collaboration will facilitate the 5G Smart Nation project in the Principality, which features self-driving cars, 3D holographic imaging medical services, and interactive gaming.

Apart from cooperation in telecommunications, the two countries also have great potential to explore such fields as ecological protection, climate change, clean energy, and wildlife conservation. Bernard Fautrier, Vice-President of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, has said that Monaco and China share a common vision when it comes to green development. The foundation has launched environmental management programs in cooperation with China to protect wild Siberian tigers and monitor the quality of the water in the Tai Lake in East China. During President Xi’s stay in Monaco, the two sides are scheduled to sign deals to enhance cooperation in environmental protection.

As the world’s largest developing country, China has set its development goals in the near, medium and long terms, emphasizing the need to adhere to the new development concepts of “innovation, coordination, green, openness, and sharing”. For China, Monaco is small. But China has much to learn from the latter when it comes to Monaco’s respect for nature and history during its development as well as its unique urban development ideas. These provide a broad space for the two sides to carry out cooperation in the areas of green economy, environmental protection, financial services, sustainable development, tourism and humanities exchanges.

As both sides stick to the principles of mutual respect, equality, cooperation and win-win development, China and Monaco have set a good example for relations between developing powers and the most developed countries.