President Xi meets Grenadian PM Mitchell in Beijing

Visit of first foreign leader in 2025 shows focus on Global South development

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Monday that China is willing to provide assistance for Grenada’s economic and social development within the framework of South-South cooperation, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The two countries should foster new highlights of cooperation in fields such as new energy, green and low-carbon development, and digital economy, Xi said in Beijing when he met with Prime Minister of Grenada Dickon Mitchell, who is paying an official visit to China.

Mitchell first extended sincere sympathies and condolences to the Chinese government and people over the recent deadly earthquake in Dingri County in southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region.

Xi expressed his appreciation for that. Noting that the earthquake occurred in a high-altitude area, Xi said China has completed rescue and temporary resettlement work in the shortest possible time and will carry out reconstruction work as quickly as possible.

“The Chinese government is confident and capable of achieving success in earthquake relief,” Xi said.

Xi noted that in recent years, China-Grenada relations have developed steadily, with the two sides treating each other with mutual respect and equality, consolidating political mutual trust, achieving fruitful results in practical cooperation in various fields, and deepening the friendship between the two peoples.

China is willing to work with Grenada to enhance the synergy of development strategies and push for more outcomes of bilateral cooperation to better benefit the two peoples, he added.

China supports Grenada in independently exploring a development path suited to its national conditions, and stands ready to strengthen exchanges of governance experience with Grenada, Xi said.

He said China also supports Grenada in enhancing its capacity in climate change response and disaster prevention and mitigation, and will continue to raise international awareness of small island countries’ concerns over climate change and their demands.

He added that China has always attached great importance to its relations with Caribbean countries and will continue to provide assistance within its capacity for the economic and social development of regional countries.

Mitchell expressed appreciation for China’s timely assistance after Grenada was hit by a devastating hurricane in July last year, Xinhua reported.

Over the past 20 years, the Grenada-China relations have been continuously deepened, and Grenada firmly abides by the one-China principle and believes that China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected, Mitchell said.

He said Grenada, having benefited a lot from its relations with China, will continuously strengthen cooperation with China and learn from China’s experience in governance.

Stressing China’s leading role in the Global South, Mitchell said Grenada will stand firmly with China to implement the three major global initiatives and safeguard world peace and stability.

Mitchell is on an official visit to China from January 11 to 17, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. It is the first foreign leader to visit the country in 2025, CCTV said.

Making Prime Minister of Grenada, an island nation located at the southern tip of the Windward Islands in the eastern Caribbean Sea, the first foreign leader China hosts in the new year demonstrates that Beijing attaches great importance to Global South countries and developing nations, said Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University.

Li told the Global Times on Monday that the emphasis China places on fostering relations across various fields with Global South countries underscores its role as a responsible major power committed to promoting fairness, justice, and sustainable development.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, on Monday morning, Mitchell laid a wreath at the Monument to the People’s Heroes on Tian’anmen Square in Beijing.

Mitchell’s itinerary in Beijing also included a visit to the Beijing new energy vehicle technology innovation center on Saturday, where he participated in a test ride. Mitchell described the experience as “impressive,” and said he asked the Grenada ambassador to China to buy one for him, per a video released by the CCTV’s Leaders Talk program on its WeChat account.

In addition to Beijing, Mitchell will visit East China’s Zhejiang Province and Shanghai, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Given that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the reestablishment of diplomatic ties between China and Grenada, the visit helps to summarize the development of relations from the past two decades, and is also expected to lay out the plan for the development of future bilateral ties, Wu Hongying, director of the Latin American office of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times on Monday.

Source: https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202501/1326798.shtml

By Zhang Yuying Published: Jan 13, 2025 09:53 PM