Prime Minister Andrew Holness says relations between China and Jamaica have been strengthened following successful bilateral talks on Monday, November 4.

The PM, who is on an official working visit in the Asian superpower, spoke on a number of areas of cooperation between the two countries – with the President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jingping in Shanghai.

The Prime Minister expressed his gratitude

for China’s longstanding strong commitment and support for Jamaica’s economic

growth and development.

The Prime Minister told President Xi that the aim of his trip is to strengthen the strategic relations between both countries.

In that regard, Prime Minister Holness

noted that China has been impactful in cooperation initiatives with Jamaica,

particularly in the areas of infrastructure development, trade and investment.

Holness noted that further investments are

being sought as Jamaica is positioning itself for Special Economic Zones and

port development, under the Global Logistics Hub Initiative which is an essential

component of the Belt and Road Initiative.

According to Prime Minister Holness, there

are opportunities for even greater growth in these areas between the two

countries and there is scope for further cooperation in other areas such as

sport and education, culture and tourism.

Alongside the Prime Minister’s official

working visit to China, a team from JAMPRO is attending the China International

Import Exposition (CIIE), with a display of Jamaican products.

For his part, President Xi mentioned his visit to Jamaica in 2009 and he highlighted his visit to the Blue Mountains and the opening of the Confucius Centre at UWI campus, Mona.

Xi spoke of the shared interest in people-centred development focus on equity and improvement of the conditions of our peoples.

Prime Minister Holness noted that he will also have more in-depth discussions with Premier Li Keqiang when he travels to Beijing later this week.