JAMAICA and China, on Thursday, signed a new economic technical grant agreement valued at $423 million. The signing followed a bilateral meeting at Jamaica House between Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and visiting Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Li Jinzao.

The agreement, which was signed by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Senator AJ Nicholson on behalf of the Government, will provide grant funding for projects that will be agreed between both governments.

Noting China's growing investments in Jamaica, the prime minister thanked the Chinese vice minister for his government's commitment to social responsibility and job creation, adding that she was looking forward to the diversifying of Chinese interests in Jamaica.

According to a Jamaica House release, Vice Minister Li said the operators of Chinese business interests in Jamaica had given him positive feedback on the local industrial environment. He said that the Montego Bay Convention Centre, which was constructed by a Chinese company, is a modern facility that ranked with buildings in China.

The bilateral meeting also saw the official handing over of documents for new mobile X-ray container scanning equipment for use by the Port Authority of Jamaica. The equipment, which is valued at $296 million, is a gift from China, which will provide a free one-year maintenance of the equipment. Minister of Transport, Works and Housing Dr Omar Davies received the documents on behalf of the Government.

The high-level delegation from the People's Republic of China, which was on a three-day visit to the island, departed on Thursday evening.

The delegation included executives from the Chinese Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce, the Global China Development Bank, and the Chinese EXIM Bank.