HARBIN, Feb. 14 -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Friday met with Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown in Harbin, capital city of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.
Brown is here for the closing ceremony of the 9th Asian Winter Games.
Since the establishment of diplomatic ties 28 years ago, China and the Cook Islands have always treated each other with sincerity, friendship and equality, Li said. They have also continuously promoted mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields, and moved forward hand in hand on the path of common development, he added.
He said that China is committed to equality among all countries, big or small, and firmly supports the people of the Cook Islands in choosing a development path suited to their own national conditions independently.
Li expressed a willingness to deepen political mutual trust and expand practical cooperation with the Cook Islands, aiming to achieve more tangible results and bring more benefits to the two peoples.
China stands ready to enhance the synergy of the high-quality Belt and Road Initiative and the development strategies of the Cook Islands, and to push for deeper, more solid mutually beneficial cooperation on oceans, infrastructure, agriculture and fisheries, Li said.
China welcomes an increase in imports of quality products from the Cook Islands, and more Chinese people are encouraged to travel to the Cook Islands, Li said, adding that the two countries should strengthen exchange and cooperation in fields such as education, culture, health and youth, and increase the number of friendly people-to-people exchanges.
China is willing to work with the Cook Islands to uphold the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, address the challenge of climate change, and build a fair, reasonable and win-win global climate governance system.
Brown said that with nearly 30 years of friendly cooperative relations between the two countries, the Cook Islands always regards China as an important partner and good friend. He expressed his sincere appreciation to China for its strong, long-term support and assistance for the economic and social development of the Cook Islands and other Pacific island countries.
The Cook Islands attaches great importance to relations with China, will continue to abide by the one-China principle, strengthen multilateral coordination on climate change and in other areas, and push for the sustained, in-depth development of the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership, Brown said.
Following the meeting, the two leaders witnessed the signing of a number of bilateral cooperation documents.
