China has pledged to strengthen its ties with Fiji in a world plagued with turmoil.
Chinese President Xi Jinping made the reaffirmation during his meeting with Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka in Beijing.
During the meeting, Jinping told Rabuka that China and Fiji have always supported and helped each other as good friends, and good partners, and have become a model of being equals and friendly cooperation between countries large and small.
He says Beijing was keen to promote the building of a China-Fiji community with a shared future in a world of turmoil and chaos and to bring more benefits to the people of the two countries.
Jinping also praised Fiji's recent sporting successes in rugby, for which it won a silver medal at the Paris Olympics Rugby 7s competition last month.
In his response to Jinping, Rabuka thanked the Chinese leader and assured him that Fiji stands ready to send rugby coaches and players to come to China to play with Chinese teams.
He also hailed Jinping’s meeting last year with US President Joe Biden in San Francisco, where he says the Chinese leader might have achieved peace for the world.
Rabuka has also taken a more cautious line over China's growing security interests in the Pacific, praising Fiji's warming ties with Beijing while saying he preferred to deal with democratic traditional friends on security.
According to statements by both governments, Fiji and China signed a series of bilateral deals on trade, military aid, infrastructure and Chinese-language education during Rabuka's trip.
Rabuka says after the meetings he has had with the stakeholders in China, they could help develop Fiji's ports and shipyards and has also praised Beijing's record of aid to Fiji in fighting Covid-19, developing agriculture and revamping infrastructure.
