Belt, Road leads to Papua New Guinea

China and Papua New Guinea should expand pragmatic cooperation under the Belt and Road framework to provide strong impetus for sustained and stable growth of bilateral ties, President Xi Jinping said on Thursday.

Xi made the remark in a meeting with Papua New Guinean Prime Minister Peter O'Neill at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing.

Xi said bilateral cooperation is standing at a new starting point with Papua New Guinea officially joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the two countries signing a memorandum of understanding on Belt and Road cooperation, the first of its kind between China and a Pacific island nation.