Rarotonga, Wednesday, 29 January- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration (MFAI) will welcome an official visit to Rarotonga by Ambassador for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the Cook Islands Dr Xiaolong Wang, PRC from 30 January – 1 February, with the aim of strengthening bilateral relations and enhancing the various areas of cooperation between the Cook Islands and the PRC. Ambassador Wang will meet with Foreign Secretary Tepaeru Herrmann and other Government Senior Officials.
This visit is a follow up to the December 2024, high-level visit of China’s Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, HE. Dr Zhaoxu Ma with discussions expected to focus on enhancing cooperation in areas of priority interest to the Cook Islands including trade, investment, tourism, agriculture, fisheries, maritime cooperation, cultural and people to people exchange.
"Ambassador Wangs visit affords a further opportunity to see how and where else the Cook Islands and China can co-operate in the next couple of years in a manner which supports the Cook Islands national development priorities,” said Foreign Secretary Tepaeru Herrmann.
The Cook Islands and China formalised diplomatic relations 28 years ago and bilateral co-operation over the years have supported the establishment of several public infrastructures in the Cook Islands namely the Court House, Police National Headquarters, the Ministry of Education, Primary School Apii Nikao and Rarotonga’s national ring main water systems which was done in trilateral partnership with New Zealand. In recent years, development co-operation between the two governments have been supported through China’s provincial governments working in partnership with Cook Islands government agencies and community-based entities, with assistance provided in agricultural and marine equipment, heavy machinery and technical expertise.
For enquires related to this release, please email: [email protected]