Climate change, trade and tourism to top Xi Jinping's agenda in Maldives visit
President Xi Jinping arrived in the Maldives on his southern Asia tour, with climate change, trade and tourism expected to be high on the agenda.
President Xi Jinping arrived in the Maldives yesterday on his southern Asia tour, with climate change, trade and tourism expected to be high on the agenda.
"China will continue to pursue close cooperation with [the Maldives] on climate change, human rights and other issues," Xi said in a signed article published in the Maldivian media just before his arrival, Xinhua reported.
Xi's visit to the Maldives is the first by a Chinese head of state since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1972.
Maritime economic cooperation and tourism would be high on Xi's agenda, while his counterpart, Abdulla Yameen, will push for talks on climate change, Xinhua cited Ye Hailin, a researcher at South Asia Research Institute at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, as saying.
The island nation of fewer than 400,000 people is facing the threat of rising sea levels due to global warming.
Xi said in his article that China welcomed the Maldives to get involved in the proposed 21st century Maritime Silk Road initiative.
With an increasing number of Chinese visiting the island country, Xi also proposed opening more flight routes for easier travel. China has been the biggest source of tourism in Maldives for the past four years, according to the foreign ministry in Beijing.
During Xi's visit, China and Tajikistan adopted a five-year development plan for the China-Tajikistan strategic partnership, giving high priority to energy cooperation, Xinhua reported.
Attending the groundbreaking ceremony of the Tajikistan section of Line-D of the Central Asia-China gas pipelines, Xi said the project was of strategic significance that involved and benefited multiple parties.
The 1,000km Line-D, one of China's major energy cooperation projects in Central Asia, will run from Turkmenistan across Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to China, with an expected delivery capacity of 30 billion cubic metres of natural gas a year once completed in 2016.
Xi will next head to Sri Lanka and wrap up his tour in India on September 19.
Port development will be a major topic of discussion with Colombo. The two sides hope to sign a memorandum of understanding on cooperation over the Hambantota port.
