BEIJING, China -- Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has arrived in Beijing, China to kick start a five-day official visit aimed at reaffirming deepening relations between Jamaica and the Asian superpower. Simpson Miller was greeted on landing by China’s Assistant Foreign Minister, Zheng Zeguang; Chinese Ambassador to Jamaica, Zheng Quingdian and Jamaican Ambassador to China, Ralph Thomas, among scores of officials at the Beijing Capital International Airport. It is Simpson Miller’s first visit to China as head of government and follows bilateral talks with President Xi Jinping, who met with Caribbean Community leaders in Trinidad and Tobago in June. The Jamaican prime minister will meet with Xi Jinping, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and a host of business interests during the visit, which also celebrates 40 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries, starting in 1972. Thomas, who recently replaced Courtney Rattray as Ambassador to China, described the visit of Simpson Miller as very important and significant for Jamaica. “The Prime Minister is here to meet with our important partner with which we have endured a very long friendship, beginning with Jamaica’s position on the One-China Policy,” Thomas said. “Her presence here is very important in cementing this important relationship and in ensuring that certain matters which are underway can be taken further at the highest level,” he told journalists. The Chinese have rapidly expanded its economic ties with Jamaica over the last decade, with billions of dollars in foreign direct investment to the island. Kingston is the Caribbean headquarters for China Harbour Engineering Company, which has been contracted to conduct major infrastructural projects in the country. Another huge Chinese investor, Complant purchased three sugar factories, leased 30,000 hectares of cane-growing lands from the Government of Jamaica while committing to invest $156 million in improvements in fields and factories over a four-year period.
Posted on: Thu, 05 Sep 2013 18:34:55 +0000
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