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Belt and Road Initiative
ChinaDiplomacy

China’s Wang Yi urges closer ties with South Asia under Belt and Road Initiative

  • South Asian countries welcome ‘to continue to ride on China’s development momentum’, Wang Yi tells event opening China-South Asia Expo in Kunming
  • India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal among South Asian countries taking part in four-day expo, according to the organisers

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Wang Yi says the economic bond between China and its southern neighbours could be made stronger by increasing connectivity under Beijing’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative. Photo: dpa
Liu Zhen
Top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi has called for closer ties with South Asian countries – urging them to “share the benefits of China’s growth” and its massive infrastructure push in the region.
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China and South Asia should build “a development community” for the long-term stability and prosperity of the region, Wang told the opening ceremony of the 7th China-South Asia Expo in the southwestern city of Kunming on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena of Sri Lanka, who is on an official visit to China, was chief guest at the event. The vice-presidents of Nepal and Laos, and the deputy prime minister of Vietnam also attended.

Wang, the foreign affairs chief of China’s ruling Communist Party and recently reappointed as foreign minister, also called on countries in the region to deepen strategic trust and increase mutual support on international and regional matters.

“[We should] join hands to advocate an open regionalism, build closer regional cooperation, jointly safeguard the interests of developing countries and jointly defend international justice,” he said.

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The economic bond between China and its southern neighbours could be made stronger by increasing inter-connectivity under Beijing’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative, which includes massive cross-border infrastructure projects like the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the planned China-Nepal railway, Wang said.
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