Hope voiced for stronger China-PNG ties

As China and Papua New Guinea celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations, officials from both sides jointly reviewed the development of bilateral ties and envisioned future prospects for cooperation at a major reception held in Beijing on Tuesday.

Building diplomatic ties with China in 1976, PNG is the first Pacific Island country to formalize Belt and Road cooperation with China.

Over the past five decades, China-PNG relations have been continuously upgraded and grown into a comprehensive strategic partnership featuring mutual respect and common development, said Yuan Mindao, vice-president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.

Currently, PNG is China's largest trading partner, largest investment destination and largest engineering contracting market among Pacific Island countries, while China is PNG's second largest trading partner and largest export market, Yuan noted.

Thaddeus Kambanei, Papua New Guinea's ambassador to China, noted that although the diplomatic relations began in 1976, "the connections between our peoples go back much further".

"More than a century ago, Chinese people began making their way to what is now Papua New Guinea. They established businesses, families and communities. They became part of the social and economic development of Papua New Guinea," he said.

"This history reminds us that our relationship did not begin simply with an agreement between governments. It began with people meeting people," he added.

Yuan, the CPAFFC official, said "treating each other as equals is the greatest political foundation of our bilateral relations," adding that mutual benefit is the strongest driving force for bilateral cooperation, and people-to-people ties are the deepest roots of the friendship.

"Fifty years is a milestone and, more importantly, a new starting point. China-Papua New Guinea relations are now at a crucial moment of building on past achievements and opening up new prospects," he said.

The PNG ambassador highlighted that his country has significant agricultural, fisheries, energy, mineral and tourism potential, and China is "an important market and a leading investment and development partner and center of technology and innovation."

"We therefore see opportunities to do more together," he added.