It is with the greatest honour that I join the Government and people of Jamaica in celebrating the 57th anniversary of Jamaica’s Independence. I would like to convey the warmest congratulations and best wishes to the Government and people of Jamaica. May Jamaica enjoy prosperity and its people happiness.

Remarkable achievements worth being celebrated

Fifty-seven years ago, China and the world witnessed together the historic moment of the Independence of Jamaica. Since then, Jamaica has astonished the world in many ways and people around the world are amazed by this small but great nation. Achievements of the past 57 years are worth being celebrated. There is the great pride that Jamaican people have been the master of their own destiny by setting their own direction with access to education, health care, and other public services, so as to improve their living standards by leaps and bounds.

For decades, Jamaica’s statesmen and diplomats have been among the most respected in the world, often taking the lead on key global and regional issues. The history of independent Jamaica is filled with men and women who have performed at high levels in respective fields, bringing honour to their country, and always proudly flying their flag high.

To create an exhaustive list of the accomplishments of the Jamaican people would require many more words than this publication allows its contributors. However, it would be remiss of me not to mention Jamaica’s rich culture that has, and continues to shape the sounds, dance, language, and fashion of the entire world. Jamaica’s exemplary track and field team set the bar for athletic excellence and created an ideal for athletes all around the world to aspire to. Furthermore, Jamaica has developed a world-class tourism product that has consistently ranked the country among the best destinations in the Caribbean and the world.

China-Jamaica relations expected to reach new highs

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Jamaica 47 years ago, China-Jamaica relations have been developing comprehensively, with fruitful exchange and cooperation in various fields and ever-growing friendship between the two peoples. China has been attaching great importance to the development of China-Jamaica relations and stands ready to consolidate mutual political trust, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, and promote the friendly and cooperative relationship between China and Jamaica to display new vigour and vitality. It gives me great joy to note that over the past few years there has been exponential growth in the levels of cooperation and friendship between our two countries.

China is honoured to be counted among Jamaica’s major development partners as the country continues on its quest to become “the place of choice to live, work, raise families, and do business”. China is currently the biggest foreign investor in Jamaica, with a total investment of more than US$2 billion. Investment from China has created almost 10,000 jobs, offered more access to financing, promoted technology transfer and infrastructure building, and improved people’s lives.

China is also one of the major international development assistance countries of Jamaica. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade’s new office building in downtown Kingston is the new landmark of Kingston. The west children’s hospital to be started soon will be helpful to improve the health of children and adolescents. I hope China’s new grant of over J$3.5 billion will continue to contribute to improving Jamaican people’s lives.

It is important to note, though, that this relationship is not one-sided. Influences from the rich Jamaican culture can be seen all over China, especially among the youth, and Jamaican exports to China of fine products like Blue Mountain Coffee, lobster, and alumina, have grown significantly each year. Data from the Chinese Customs show that Jamaica’s exports to China grew by over 100 per cent in 2018 alone. In terms of total trade volume, Jamaica is China’s largest trade partner in the Caribbean.

The China-Jamaica Friendly Partnership for Common Development is expected to reach new highs now that China and Jamaica have signed the memorandum of understanding on Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Cooperation. The BRI, guided by the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, has emerged as a new model of international development cooperation promoting broad and inclusive connectivity across countries and regions.

The BRI has contributed, in no small way, to strong economic growth and development in all its partner countries. China greatly looks forward to Jamaica tapping into the many benefits that this initiative offers. Through collaboration within the framework of BRI, China and Jamaica will seek to deepen interaction to promote greater connectivity in the areas of policy co-ordination, infrastructure, trade, financial service, and people-to-people connections. I am confident that this new cooperation framework will raise the level of our mutually beneficial cooperation and create a better future for relations between our two countries.

I deeply appreciate the marvels of this beautiful country and its amazing people. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Jamaica is on the path to prosperity and China stands ready to continue working together with Jamaica to achieve sustainable and inclusive economic growth and development for all Jamaicans. We welcome a new era of even closer friendship between our two countries and peoples.

Happy Independence Day, and big up, Jamaica!

Tian Qi is China’s Ambassador to Jamaica