Tuesday, 23 May 2017
Parliament Speaker Xhaferi meets H.E. Chinese Ambassador Ms. Yin Lixien
The President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Talat Xhafer held an official meeting today with the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the Republic of Macedonia, Ms. Yin Lixien. At the start of the meeting the Ambassador congratulated him on being elected President of the Assembly and presented official congratulations from the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, Mr. Zhang Dejiang.
The Ambassador underlined the readiness of China, a distant country in geographical terms but an extremely close one in terms of mutual relations, to closely cooperate with the Republic of Macedonia at a bilateral level especially between the parliaments of the two countries. Furthermore, she voiced expectations that Mr. Talat Xhaferi, as the newly elected Parliament Speaker, will invest his personal and professional capacities and will give strong contribution to strengthening and deepening the excellent bilateral relations between the two friendly countries and their citizens.
Mister Xhaferi sincerely thanked for the congratulations and introduced the Ambassador with the current developments regarding the formation of a new government which will be followed by the establishment of working bodies in the Assembly, delegations and parliamentary groups for cooperation with parliaments of other countries.
Furthermore, he informed the Ambassador that, for several consecutive mandates, the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia has established a Parliamentary group for cooperation with the Parliament of the PRC which demonstrates its commitment and interest to foster, strengthen and deepen the close inter-parliamentary ties.
He underlined the readiness for closer cooperation with his counterpart from the National People’s Congress in the near future based on his belief that parliamentary democracy has great potential and significant influence on the overall bilateral relations between the two countries.
Interlocutors also discussed the expectations that the new government will continue on the path of long-term cooperation with China, especially in relation to the already commenced projects in infrastructure and education, as well as in context of the initiative of the Chinese President Xi Jinping to recreate the Silk Road i.e. the 16+1 initiative referring to CEE countries on one side and the PRC on the other.
This mega-project includes the Republic of Macedonia and its implementation will be a strong impetus to the overall social, economic, infrastructural and business development of all participating countries.
Voicing support for further closer and intensified inter-parliamentary cooperation, interlocutors agreed that the established friendly relations should be fostered with strong dedication and mutual trust.