The praise was at odds with Speaker Nasheed's criticism of Chinese debt.
The Maldives president has made development the cornerstone of his re-election campaign.
The three largest Chinese projects in the Maldives are said to be worth $1.5 billion.
There are projects that do not exist, projects with delays, projects where work has stopped, projects with problems and projects that were completed under another government.
The president has set his 2018 re-election bid on infrastructure projects.
