Vice President Mohamed Waheed Deen has today said that he hopes that the existing bilateral relations between Maldives and China would further strengthen in different areas in the years to come. The Vice President made this remark while speaking at the ceremony held at Traders Hotel by the Chinese Embassy to celebrate 63rd Anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China.
While speaking at the ceremony, Vice President said “Maldives and China share a long history of close relations and this October we will mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries”.
Vice President also spoke on the vast contributions that the Maldives has been receiving from China in the social, cultural and economic development of the country and he highlighted on the contributions by the Chinese government in the areas of housing development and infrastructure
Vice President highlighted that, opening of the Embassy of China in the Maldives last year, demonstrates the importance the Chinese Government attaches to its relations between the both countries and also as a gesture to further strengthen the relationship between Maldives and China, the Maldives government has decided to provide land for the establishment of the Chinese Embassy in the Maldives.
While speaking on the Maldives tourism industry, Vice President said “China is currently the number one tourist market for the Maldives and I hope that the number of Chinese tourists travelling to the Maldives will continue to increase”. Vice President also highlighted that trade between the Maldives and China has increased significantly in the past few years and China remains one of the largest trading partners of the Maldives.
