Preface
China and Pacific Island Countries (PICs) enjoy long-lasting friendly exchanges. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties in the 1970s, China and PICs have continued to expand exchanges and cooperation in more than 20 areas, including trade, investment, ocean affairs, environmental protection, disaster prevention and mitigation, poverty alleviation, health care, education, tourism, culture, sports and at the sub-national level. For PICs, China has provided economic and technical assistance without any political strings attached, implemented more than 100 aid projects, delivered more than 200 batches of in-kind assistance, and trained about 10,000 talents in various fields. China has dispatched 600 medical staff to PICs, benefiting more than 260,000 local residents. Since the start of COVID-19, China has provided PICs with nearly 600,000 doses of vaccines and more than 100 tons of anti-epidemic supplies. In addition, China and PICs have forged 22 pairs of sister provinces/states and cities.
Regional Affairs
In 1989, China became an official Dialogue Partner of the Pacific Island Forum (PIF). Starting from 1990, China has sent government delegations to the Forum Dialogue Partners Meeting for 31 consecutive years, which has enhanced China’s cooperation with PIF and its members. In October 2000, the China-PIF Cooperation Fund was established with Chinese government donations to promote trade and investment cooperation between the two sides.
The Chinese government has provided financial assistance to the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) every year since 1998, to support PICs in tackling climate change and achieving sustainable development.
China joined the South Pacific Tourism Organization (SPTO) in 2004 (renamed Pacific Tourism Organization in 2019).
Development Cooperation
The two sides have deepened economic and technical cooperation. Over the years, China has provided support and assistance for the development of PICs to the best of its capability. It has carried out a host of economic and technical cooperation projects in PICs, such as road, bridge, wharf, hospital, school, and stadium, which has greatly promoted economic growth and people’s well-being in PICs.
In recent years, China has helped accelerate the connectivity of PICs by carrying out a series of key infrastructure projects, including the Independence Boulevard in PNG, Malakula island highway in Vanuatu, renovation of Tonga national road, and Pohnpei highway in Micronesia.
In October 2021, the Chinese side announced the establishment of the China-Pacific Island Countries Poverty Reduction and Development Cooperation Center on the sidelines of the first China-Pacific Island Countries Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. China has actively supported PICs in developing human resources, and helped PICs train nearly 10,000 talents in various fields, including public administration and social organization, agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishery, and education.
Ocean Affairs and Environmental Protection
In 2017, China hosted the China-Small Island States Ocean-related Ministerial Round Table with the theme of “Blue Economy and Ecological Islands”. Senior representatives from Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu and Niue attended and addressed the meeting, which adopted and published the Pingtan Declaration.
In light of the needs of PICs, China has shared its environmental protection experience and helped PICs improve environmental management capacity. In recent years, China has hosted multiple seminars for PIC officials, including on environmental protection and management, water pollution treatment, and water resource protection.
Climate Change
China takes PICs’ special conditions and concerns on climate change very seriously, and has been committed to helping them strengthen capacity to tackle climate change.
In April 2022, the China-Pacific Island Countries Climate Change Cooperation Center was officially launched in Shandong Province of China.
Since 2019, China has held three South-South cooperation training sessions for PICs under the theme of “Tackling Climate Change for Green and Low-carbon Development”. China has also provided multiple batches of supplies to PICs to tackle climate change.
China has attached importance to strengthening renewable energy cooperation with PICs, and supported Chinese enterprises in joining the construction of hydro-power stations in countries such as PNG and Fiji.
Disaster Prevention and Mitigation
Since 2006, China has carried out earthquake mitigation cooperation with PICs. It has helped countries such as Samoa, Vanuatu and Fiji to build seismic networks and enhance earthquake monitoring capacity.
In December 2021, the China-Pacific Island Countries Reserve for Emergency Supplies was officially launched in Guangdong Province of China.
China provided immediate humanitarian aids when PICs were hit by natural disasters. In January 2022, a large-scale volcanic eruption struck Tonga, which triggered disasters such as tsunami and ash fallout. The Chinese government was highly concerned and acted immediately, making China the first country in the world to provide assistance to Tonga.
Agricultural and Fishery Cooperation
China has launched multiple agricultural technical assistance projects in countries such as PNG, Fiji, Tonga, Micronesia, and Samoa. It has helped PICs improve agricultural production capacity and food security through sending agricultural experts, building demonstration farms, training model farmers, promoting improved crop varieties, and providing technical support.
China has set up a Juncao technical demonstration center in Fiji, and provided Juncao technical assistance to Fiji and PNG.
Since 2009, the China-Pacific Island Countries Agriculture Cooperation Forum has been convened three times, effectively promoting agricultural policy exchanges and business interactions, and boosting economic and trade cooperation in farming, animal husbandry and fishery between the two sides.
In 2019, the First China-Pacific Island Countries Agriculture Ministers Meeting was held in Fiji, which issued the Nadi Declaration of China and Pacific Island Countries on Agricultural Development, charting the course for practical agricultural cooperation in the new era.
In 2021, the First China-Pacific Island Countries Forum on Fishery Cooperation and Development was held in Guangzhou of China, which produced the Guangzhou Consensus of the First China-Pacific Island Countries Forum on Fishery Cooperation and Development, deepening fishery cooperation between the two sides.
People-to-People and Sub-national Friendship and Cooperation
Women
The friendly exchanges between women’s groups of China and PICs started from the 1990s. In October 2019, the Tongan Women’s Economic Capacity Building Workshop was held successfully in China. In May 2021, the All-China Women’s Federation held the China-Solomon Islands Video Dialogue on Women and Poverty Reduction.
China has also invited PIC women’s institutions and organizations to participate in events held in China, such as the Conference on Commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the Fourth World Women Conference, Forum on Women and Urban Development and Commemorating the 15th Anniversary of the Fourth World Women Conference, and International Forum on Women and Sustainable Development, in an effort to exchange experience in women’s development and promote gender equality and all-round development of women.
Excerpted from: Cooperation Between China and Pacific Island Countries
