The President of Malta, George Vella, received Yang Jiechi, former Foreign Minister and Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China’s Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs of China at Sant’Anton Palace.
The meeting took place in light of the upcoming fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Malta and China in 1972.
In welcoming Jiechi to Malta, President Vella underlined the importance that Malta continues to allocate to bilateral relations with China and the progress made along the years in the political, economic and cultural fields. President Vella welcomed the continuous intensification of relations along the decades, which have been consolidated on the pretext of mutual respect and dialogue despite the very different scenarios of size and population. People to people contacts, President Vella added, have gone from strength to strength also thanks to the initiatives taken by the China Cultural Centre in Malta.
Yang Jiechi thanked President Vella for his appreciation and understanding of bilateral relations and added that China fully appreciates the role that Malta plays in safeguarding regional and international stability. He also spoke of the high value that China gives to the position taken by Malta within the European Union in favour of open dialogue and closer EU-China relations. On the Covid virus, Jiechi reiterated the interest expressed by China in cooperation with Malta in countering the effects of the pandemic and in jointly contributing to the global post-COVID recovery.
The two sides expressed support to multilateral diplomacy and cooperation between Malta and China at this level. President Vella referred to Malta’s bid for a non-Permanent Seat at the UN Security Council for the term 2023-2024 in this context.
