Maldives president-elect invited to visit China

President-elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has been invited to make a state visit to China once he is sworn into office on November 17.

The invitation was extended by Chinese ambassador Zhang Lizhong during a courtesy call on Saturday. The pair “discussed how China can continue to assist the Maldives with its development, in particular in housing, water and sewerage, and tourism,” according to Solih’s office.

The president-elect informed the ambassador that “his foreign policy priorities would focus on democracy, human rights, and climate change.”

President Abdulla Yameen’s heavy defeat in the September 23 election was widely reported as a blow for China, which financed his administration’s flagship infrastructure projects with loans in excess of a billion dollars, drawing accusations of a debt trap from the main opposition party’s leader.