China, Brunei lift ties to strategic cooperative partnership

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN - China and Brunei on Monday agreed to upgrade their relations to a strategic cooperative partnership.

The two countries also pledged to be good partners featuring mutual trust in politics, mutual benefit in economy, mutual understanding in people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and mutual assistance in multilateral affairs.

The consensus was reached during talks between visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brunei's Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah.

"The decision made by our two sides to establish a strategic cooperative partnership is to ... deliver greater benefits to our two peoples through our cooperation," Xi said.

Xi arrived here on Sunday for a state visit to Brunei, the first by a Chinese head of state in 13 years to the Southeast Asian nation.

During the talks, Xi expressed high appreciation to the Sultan for the great importance he has long attached to developing the China-Brunei relations.

The Chinese president said he was deeply impressed by the warmth and hospitality of the Bruneian people on his first visit to the country, which Xi said vividly testifies to the profound friendship between the two peoples.

Xi praised the bilateral ties, saying that China and Brunei enjoy a long and deep historical and cultural link, and are close neighbors across the sea as well as friends and partners who trust each other.

During the talks, Xi called on the two sides to increase high-level exchanges to well steer the vessel of bilateral relations.

China appreciates Brunei's firm adherence to the one-China policy and will continue to support Brunei in pursuing a development path that suits its own national conditions, Xi said.

China sees Brunei as an important partner for cooperation in building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and is willing to align the Belt and Road Initiative with Brunei's Wawasan 2035, a strategy for economic diversification, in a bid to boost the mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries, he said.