Speaking on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Maldives and China, President Hu Jintao has described ties between the nations as the “model of friendship between a big country and a small one.”
The Press Trust of India (PTI) reports President Hu Jintao as saying that “China stands ready to work with Maldives to promote the friendship between the two nations to a higher level.”
A Chinese embassy opened in Male’ in time for the opening of the SAARC summit last November, reciprocating the opening of a Maldivian mission in Beijing in 2007.
Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported Hu as saying that China was ready to take the relationship to a higher level.
China leapfrogged the United Kingdom in 2010 to become the number one source of arrivals for the country’s travel industry.
