Foreign Minister Michael Frendo has had talks in China with the Chinese Foreign Minister and, with the Chinese Vice-Minister for Commerce, co-chaired the seventh Joint Malta-China Commission on Economic and Trade Affairs.
He also addressed the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) meeting between Maltese and Chinese businesspeople.
Yesterday morning, Dr Frendo had official talks with the newly appointed Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Yang Jiechi, during which various issues of mutual bilateral interest were discussed, as well as issues of multilateral concern, such as energy security and affordability, China-EU relations and irregular migration.
Minister Yang said he had been to Malta three times with various delegations before he took on the appointment as Foreign Affairs Minister. He said he knew Malta well and was very impressed by its progress and its rich history and civilisation. Dr Frendo recalled that this was their second meeting, since they had met in 1996 during the visit of Premier Li Peng to Malta.
Dr Frendo proposed the opening of negotiations on a reciprocal visa abolition agreement for diplomatic passport-holders, as well as a reciprocal visa facilitation agreement for selected categories of Chinese nationals who want to visit Malta. He said that Maltese efforts to increase trade relations between the two countries required facilitation of travel, particularly for certain categories such as businesspeople and bona fide students and tourists.
Dr Frendo also proposed the launch of talks on an agreement on mutual recognition of degrees and other educational qualifications. He also noted the increase in Chinese development to Africa and welcomed this approach towards the alleviation of poverty, while highlighting Malta’s grave concern over irregular migration, particularly in view of the country’s high population density.
At the Joint Malta-China Economic and Trade Commission, Dr Frendo invited all 39 members of the business delegation to explain the nature of their business and what they were seeking to do in China, in Malta and in the Mediterranean and European Union region with Chinese businesspeople.
He described Malta’s targets for 2015, in particular its seeking regional leadership in sectors such as ICT, where SmartCity was in the pipeline; health, where Chinese medicine was targeted as being on offer in the new Mater Dei hospital; education; and financial services, where Malta sought to become the leading financial services centre. He also discussed the potential for China of Malta’s maritime competitive infrastructure as the basis for distribution and logistics for Chinese companies.
The Chinese vice-minister requested Malta’s assistance in the EU concerning the market economy status. Minister Frendo said that Malta favoured free trade and that increased business in the region was beneficial to Malta’s interests. However, this required the development of consensus within the European Union context.
At the end of the session, two agreements were signed. An operating lease agreement was signed between Nuctech Co. Ltd and the government of Malta totalling EUR3 million over a contractual period of eight years. This will allow the Customs Department to make use of the latest technology in carrying out their inspection work in the fight against fraud and the illegal trafficking of narcotics and other substances.
The second agreement provided a grant equivalent to Lm125,000, to be used in the implementation of projects to be agreed on by both countries.
Late in the afternoon, Dr Frendo had talks with State Counsellor Tang Jiaxuan, the former foreign affairs minister who today is a member of the State Council representing the leadership of the People’s Republic of China. The talks centred around the historical development of Sino-Maltese relations based on mutual respect and equality and the prospects for translating this close friendship for the benefit of the Maltese and Chinese people.