At the invitation of Premier Li Qiang of the State Council, Prime Minister Charlot Salwai of the Republic of Vanuatu will pay an official visit to China from July 7 to 12.
At the invitation of Premier Li Qiang of the State Council, Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele of Solomon Islands will pay an official visit to China from July 9 to 15.
At the invitation of Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Foreign Minister Maksim Ryzhenkov of Belarus will pay an official visit to China from July 6 to 9.
At the invitation of Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Minister of Foreign Affairs Maris Sangiampongsa of Thailand will pay an official visit to China and co-chair the second meeting of the Consultation Mechanism between the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of China and Thailand from July 9 to 10.
AFP: The Labor Party has won the UK general election. And the incoming Prime Minister Keir Starmer has previously said that the UK needed to wean itself off China on issues such as trade and technology but cooperate with China on other issues, including climate change. Could we ask what China’s reaction to his election is?
Mao Ning: We noted the result of the UK general election. China has a consistent and clear position on growing China-UK relations. China and the UK are both permanent members of the UN Security Council and major economies in the world. Growing stable and mutually beneficial bilateral ties between China and the UK serves the fundamental interests of both peoples, helps both countries to better respond to global challenges together, and contributes to world peace and development. China hopes to work with the UK to advance China-UK relations along the right track based on mutual respect and win-win cooperation.
China News Service: This year’s Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit accepted Belarus as a member state. What’s China’s comment?
Mao Ning: As an observer of the SCO for a long time, Belarus highly recognizes the Shanghai Spirit and other core visions of the organization, actively participated in SCO cooperation in various fields, and made important contributions to the development of the SCO. During this year’s summit, President Xi Jinping and leaders of other SCO member states jointly signed a resolution to grant Belarus the status of an SCO member state, making the country the 10th SCO member state. China once again extends warm congratulations to Belarus and looks forward to Belarus’ active, comprehensive and in-depth participation in SCO activities and its new contribution to the organization’s development.
The SCO today stands as a comprehensive regional organization that covers the largest population and area in the world. As more countries became SCO member states, it shows that the Shanghai Spirit has strong vitality, cohesiveness and appeal, and that the SCO follows the development trend of the times, practices an open and inclusive cooperation vision and is welcomed and commended by the international community and countries in the region.
More and more countries now hope to strengthen cooperation with the SCO, and obtain or upgrade their legal status in the SCO. China welcomes more countries that recognize the Shanghai Spirit and the purposes and principles of the SCO to join the SCO family, work together to build an even closer SCO community with a shared future, jointly uphold international fairness and justice, promote world peace and stability, and make SCO’s contribution to global prosperity and development.
Reuters: The European Commission confirmed yesterday that it will impose preliminary tariffs on Chinese manufactured electric vehicles. The Commerce Ministry this morning announced it will continue with its anti-dumping probe into European brandy imports. But does China plan to introduce any further retaliatory measures?
Mao Ning: I’d refer you to competent authorities on specific issues. China has expressed strong opposition more than once to the EU’s anti-subsidy investigation on China’s electric vehicles. We believe that specific trade issues should be resolved properly through dialogue and consultation. China will also take necessary measures to firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.
Xinhua News Agency: The 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was successfully held in Astana. President Xi Jinping attended the Meeting. Can you share more details on the Meeting? What initiatives and propositions did China propose at the Meeting?
Mao Ning: On July 4, the 24th Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State was held in Astana. President Xi Jinping attended the Meeting upon invitation, and delivered the important statement titled Joining Hands to Build a More Beautiful Home of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. During the Meeting, President Xi had in-depth exchanges of views with leaders of other countries on global and regional issues of common interest, through which the leaders drew a blueprint and charted the course for SCO going forward with a series of consensus reached.
Over 20 documents were adopted at the summit, including the Astana Declaration, the SCO initiative on world unity for justice, harmony and development, and the statement on the principles of good-neighborliness, trust and partnership. In particular, the Astana Declaration underscores adherence to the Shanghai Spirit, and reaffirms the commitments to building a new type of international relations and building a community with a shared future for mankind. The Declaration represents the common aspiration for greater solidarity and cooperation among SCO member states, and sends the positive message of the SCO shouldering the missions of the new era, and braving risks and challenges together for security and development. The summit delivered fruitful outcomes, gave a strong boost to the development of the SCO, and showcased the increasing appeal and influence of the SCO.
Amidst changes of historical significance across the world during our times unfolding in ways like never before, President Xi Jinping has keen observation of the development trend in the world, and stands at the strategic height of long-term development of humanity with a global vision and people-centered philosophy. He underscored the importance of having the wisdom to see the changes, the ability to deal with the changes, and the courage to make changes to cope with the major transformation.
President Xi pointed out that the SCO region is facing the triple risks of the Cold War mentality, “small yard with high fences,” and external interference a