PM off to China

Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama’s visit to meet with China’s top leaders this week highlights the strengthening of the already close relationship between the two countries and recognises the rising importance of Fiji as a regional leader in the Pacific.

He leaves for Beijing tomorrow and is scheduled to hold meetings on Wednesday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang.

The visit to Beijing – at the invitation of the Chinese leadership – precedes a state visit to Moscow next month for a meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

These meetings, along with Fiji’s current leadership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, the G-77 and the International Sugar Organisation, underline Fiji’s robust foreign policy, aligned with other Pacific island nations, focusing on new opportunities beyond its traditional regional partners.

The Prime Minister returns to Fiji on Friday to chair a meeting of the International Sugar Organisation next week in Nadi.