Ambassador Salato lauds Solomon Islands-China Relations during Roundtable with NZ Foreign Minister in Beijing
The Solomon Islands Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, His Excellency Barrett Salato had described the Solomon Islands-China relations as special.
He made this comment during a roundtable discussion between the New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Winston Peters and Pacific Islands Countries Ambassadors to China, on Wednesday 25th February.
H.E Salato acknowledges the opportunity for the Pacific Islands Ambassadors to the People’s Republic of China to meet with Hon. Winston Peters and took the opportunity to highlight the Solomon Islands-China growing relations.
Ambassador Salato stated that the bilateral relations between Solomon Islands and China is built on mutual respect and common development, in which practical cooperation had yielded enormous tangible benefits for the people of Solomon Islands and achieved win-win outcomes for both countries.
Reflecting on the five (5) years of the Solomon Islands-China diplomatic relations, Ambassador Salato emphasized that the central focus of Solomon Islands-China relations is “Development”.
He further added that all MOUs and agreements signed between the two countries has its focus on addressing the Solomon Islands national development needs and priorities, and the underlying key amongst it is a ‘transformative infrastructure development’ that addresses connectivity challenges faced in the Solomons.
During the roundtable discussion, H.E Salato also underscored that Solomon Islands Government recognizes trade, not aid, as a sustainable means to support the country’s development and elevate the country to graduate from its LDC status.
China is Solomon Islands’ largest trading partner and number one export markets for Solomon Islands products. In 2024, China granted duty-free market access to Solomon Islands exports at 100% product coverage. On investment, China is also ranked number one as Solomon Islands Foreign Direct Investment partner.
According to H.E Salato, the Pacific Islands trade relations with Australia and New Zealand under the PACER Plus is crucially important and needs to be harnessed and strengthened, for the benefits of the people across the Pacific region.
Ambassador Salato however, stressed that Solomon Islands current export performance into the New Zealand and Australia markets are marginal, accounting for only 2% and 5% respectively.
Ambassador Salato also took the opportunity at the occasion to unequivocally reaffirm Solomon Islands’ firm position regarding the Taiwan issue.
He emphasized Solomon Islands’ unwavering commitment to the One-China Principle, recognizing that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s sovereignty and territory.
Ends//
-MFAET PRESS RELEASE