SANTO DOMINGO -- Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Dominican President Danilo Medina here Friday and agreed to promote bilateral exchanges and deepen cooperation in various fields.

At the Presidential Palace, Medina told Wang that the Dominican Republic should have established diplomatic relations with China long ago, since it keeps up with the trend of the times, stands on the right side of history, and fully accords with the interests of the Dominican nation and people.

The establishment of diplomatic relations with China is a historic decision made by the Dominican Republic and is also the broad consensus of the Dominican community, which should not be subject to external interference or influence its relations with other countries, he said.

The Dominican Republic respects and upholds the one-China principle, Medina said, based on which developing relations with China is an important part of Dominican foreign policy.

Medina expressed that the Dominican Republic admires the great development China has achieved and believes that the establishment of diplomatic relations will open up broad prospects for the two sides to expand mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation.

The Dominican Republic looks forward to promoting high-level exchanges, deepening trade and investment cooperation and expanding cultural exchanges with China, he said, and his country welcomes more Chinese companies to invest and more Chinese tourists to travel.

For his part, Wang said that although China and the Dominican Republic are far apart, it does not prevent the two sides from developing friendly ties. In fact, since the 1950s and 1960s, the two sides have always understood and supported each other, he added.

Wang said the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries accords with the trend of the times and the will of the people. That the Dominican Republic cut off so-called "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan is in line with the principles set by the international community and the UN resolution, and is completely correct, he said.

Wang expressed that China appreciates the Dominican government led by President Medina has opened the door to the establishment of diplomatic relations with China with firm political will, adding that China is also pleased that the decision has been widely supported by various levels of the Dominican society.

The Dominican Republic is an independent sovereign country and has full authority to determine its own foreign policy, which is also the basic norm of international relations established by the UN Charter, Wang said.

We appreciate the Dominican government's reaffirmation that it will firmly adhere to the one-China policy and this is the political basis for the development of bilateral relations, Wang said. As long as this foundation is laid, the two sides can build a large building of mutual-beneficial cooperation on this basis, he added.

China is willing to work with the Dominican side to take this opportunity to promote high-level exchanges and ones in other levels and expand pragmatic cooperation in all fields, Wang said. China is full of confidence in the development of bilateral relations and the prospects for cooperation between the two countries, he added.

At the invitation of Dominican Foreign Minister Miguel Vargas, Wang paid an official visit to the Dominican Republic on Thursday and Friday. During his visit, Wang also attended the inauguration ceremony of the Chinese Embassy in the Dominican Republic, held talks with Vargas and jointly met the press.