Prime minister of Commonwealth of Dominica lands in Beijing to start official visit

(China Global Television Network (CGTN)-The prime minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica Roosevelt Skerrit landed at Beijing Capital International Airport on Saturday morning, marking the start of his visit to China from March 23 to 29.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, during the visit, Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet with the prime minister and Chinese Premier Li Qiang will hold a welcome ceremony for him and the two leaders will hold talks and jointly attend a signing ceremony of cooperation documents.

Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, will also meet with the prime minister.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the two countries’ establishment of their diplomatic ties.

At an earlier press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said that over the past two decades, relations between the two countries have grown steadily, setting a good example of mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit, common development and win-win cooperation between countries of different sizes, and China expects that this visit will further expand cooperation in various fields.

Last week the prime minister attended a reception to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

In 2018, Dominica signed a memorandum of understanding with China to jointly build the Belt and Road.

Since then, the two countries have deepened their cooperation in various fields. For example, agriculture is the mainstay of Dominica’s economy and under the Belt and Road Initiative, Dominica has been working actively with China to set up agricultural technology cooperative projects to improve agricultural development and technology transfer so as to guarantee the food security in the country.

Another example is in the health sector. The prime minister once said that the construction of a Dominica-China friendship hospital, the introduction of new technologies and equipment and the direct support by China in its first cardiology department have dramatically improved the health system in the country.

The prime minister said, as the two countries celebrate this special moment this year, they can also renew their commitment to their friendship, and look forward to a future brimming with hopes.

Located in the northeastern Windward Islands in the Eastern Caribbean, the Commonwealth of Dominica is an island country with a population of less than 100,000.