China, Caribbean nations pledge to promote mutually beneficial cooperation

China is willing to strengthen cooperation with Caribbean nations and jointly tackle challenges such as climate change in the future, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (C) poses for photos with foreign ministers of Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the representative of Bahamas, in Santiago, Chile, on Sunday, January 21, 2018. [Photo: fmprc.gov.cn]

Wang made the remarks when meeting with foreign ministers of Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the representative of Bahamas, one day ahead of the Second Ministerial Meeting of the China-CELAC (the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum to be held in Santiago, Chile.

China highly values friendly cooperation with Caribbean nations, Wang said.

In the past three years, the comprehensive cooperative partnership between the two sides has achieved significant progress as they have been enjoying close economic and trade contracts, more active people-to-people exchanges, support on issues of each other's core interests and major concerns, as well as fruitful results achieved in bilateral cooperation within the framework of the China-CELAC Forum, he added.

China is willing to jointly tackle common challenges such as climate change with the Caribbean nations, deepen cooperation in such fields as finance, disaster reduction and prevention, Wang said.

China supports Caribbean integration, and is willing to promote pragmatic cooperation with the Caribbean nations, he said.

Wang stressed that the Second Ministerial Meeting of the China-CELAC Forum is of great significance for developing mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides and for regional countries to take part in the Belt and Road Initiative.

The foreign ministers and the representative of those Caribbean nations expressed appreciation of China's long-term support for their countries' economic and social development.

They said their countries welcome and support the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and within this framework, they are willing to deepen cooperation with China in the fields of infrastructure construction, energy, transportation and financing.

The Caribbean nations appreciate China's leadership in tackling global challenges such as climate change, and are willing to promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, they said.