Chinese, Malta PMs meet on ties

BEIJING - Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met with Prime Minister of Malta Joseph Muscat here on Wednesday.

Hailing the traditional friendship and close cooperation between the two countries, Li said China attached high importance to the bilateral ties, and was ready to work with Malta to implement the medium-term plan of the two governments for bilateral relations.

Li and Muscat witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on governmental cooperation between China and Malta from 2014 to 2019 after their meeting at the Great Hall of the People.

Li said Malta, in central Mediterranean, has the geographical advantage of easy access to markets. China will expand cooperation with Malta in such areas as trade, energy, infrastructure construction, ocean and tourism.

The premier added he hoped Malta, as a good friend and partner of China within the European Union, would continue to play a positive role for the development of China-EU relations.

Muscat said Malta-China relations, based on mutual understanding and mutual respect, have seen great development in recent years. He said Malta would take the signing of the MOU as an opportunity to further expand bilateral cooperation in various areas, and that Malta will utilize its geographical advantage to purse greater achievements in EU-China cooperation.

Muscat is in China for the Eco Forum Global Annual Conference 2014 to be held in Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, from July 10 to 12.