Chinese president Xi Jinping has on Saturday sent a congratulatory message to the opening ceremony of the 15th OIC summit held in Banjul, The Gambia.
Represented at the summit by Zheng Jianbang, the vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, President Xi Jinping said: “The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation is a symbol of the unity and independence of Islamic countries, and has made important contributions to strengthening cooperation among Islamic countries as well as safeguarding international fairness and justice.
China and Islamic countries are good friends and partners with a long history of friendship, he said, noting that in recent years, China and Islamic countries have supported each other on issues concerning each other’s core interests and major concerns, achieved fruitful results in practical cooperation, and continuously upgraded their friendly relations, setting a good example of the South-South cooperation,” he said.
President Xi Jinping said China stands ready to keep on working with Islamic countries to continue traditional friendship, enhance political mutual trust, deepen practical cooperation, expand exchanges among civilisations, jointly implement the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative, and make greater contribution to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
“As a special representative of the Chinese president, Zheng Jianbang said China and Islamic countries share special relations. “Faced with changes in the world, times, and history, China and Islamic countries must inherit historical friendships, strengthen unity and cooperation, and continuously promote the bilateral relationship to a new level.
We should stay independent and deepen strategic mutual trust between both sides. China firmly supports Islamic countries in exploring their own development paths, and is willing to jointly uphold the principle of non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs with Islamic countries and support each other in safeguarding national core interests and national dignity,” he said.
The special representative also held a bilateral meeting with President Adama Barrow on Sunday where Mr Jianbang congratulated the Gambian leader on the successful hosting of the summit.
President Barrow also asked Zheng Jianbang to convey his special greetings to President Xi. He said China has provided a lot of help to The Gambia to hold this summit, which includes a state-of-the-art conference centre.
He assured the special representative that The Gambia firmly supports the one-China principle.
