By He Yin, People's Daily
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Dec. 20 held a phone conversation with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega. The two heads of state announced the establishment of strategic partnership between China and Nicaragua.
The two sides believe this move is in the common interests of the two countries and the two peoples, and is conducive to the common development and prosperity of the two countries.
China and Nicaragua will take it as a new starting point to make new progress of China-Nicaragua ties and set an example of solidarity, cooperation, mutual benefit and win-win results.
Since the resumption of relations two years ago, the two sides, with a sense of urgency, have promoted a leap-forward development of China-Nicaragua relations. Facts have fully proved that the decision made by the Nicaraguan government to resume diplomatic relations with China, based on its national interests and the will of its people, is indeed correct.
The establishment of the strategic partnership on the occasion of the second anniversary of the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries will surely become an important milestone in the history of China-Nicaragua relations.
The two heads of state agreed that the two sides will further give play to the guiding role of head-of-state diplomacy, maintain the momentum of high-level exchanges and dialogue, continuously strengthen strategic cooperation, deepen political mutual trust and stick to the right direction of China-Nicaragua relations.
Over the past two years, China and Nicaragua have achieved positive progress in political mutual trust, practical cooperation and multilateral coordination. The two sides have firmly supported each other on issues concerning each other's core interests and major concerns.
China is ready to be a reliable friend of Nicaragua, and will continue to firmly support Nicaragua in safeguarding its national independence and national dignity, and also backs Nicaragua in rejecting external interference.
China stands ready to strengthen solidarity and coordination with Nicaragua in international affairs, and work with Nicaragua to oppose hegemonism and power politics, promote the development of a more just and rational international order, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries.
The Nicaraguan side said it highly values its friendly relations with its great brother China, firmly abides by the one-China principle, supports China's grand cause of reunification and supports global cooperation initiatives, including the Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Xi.
Nicaragua is ready to work with China to continuously deepen bilateral friendly relations, strengthen multilateral coordination, oppose external interference and power politics, and jointly promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
Pragmatic cooperation between China and Nicaragua has been rapidly advancing in various fields, bringing benefits to the people of both countries.
In 2022, the bilateral trade volume reached $760 million. China is Nicaragua's second-largest trading partner and second-largest source of imports. Nicaragua is China's important economic and trade partner in Central America and an important participant in the Belt and Road Initiative.
China and Nicaragua signed a free trade agreement in August this year, which will come into effect on Jan. 1 next year. It is a landmark achievement of cooperation between the two countries.
By implementing the free trade agreement, both countries will achieve a high level of mutual openness in areas such as goods trade, service trade, and investment market access. Practical cooperation between them will also continue to expand and deepen.
According to Nicaraguan Minister of Development, Industry and Trade Jesus Bermudez, the Nicaragua-China free trade agreement will bring tangible benefits and set an example for cooperation between Central American and even Latin American countries with China.
As developing countries, China and Nicaragua share a common commitment to people-centered development and should work together to promote their respective modernization.
China is willing to share the opportunities brought about by Chinese modernization with countries including Nicaragua, and work with them to create a brighter future for global modernization.
The Nicaraguan side highly appreciates China's efforts to advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization, and believes that Chinese modernization provides a new choice for humanity to realize modernization and offers Chinese solutions and strength to address common challenges faced by humanity.
Both countries will continue to enhance exchanges and cooperation between departments at all levels, strengthen policy coordination, and learn from each other's governance experiences.
In recent years, Panama, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras and other Central American and Caribbean countries have established or resumed diplomatic relations with China, carrying out pragmatic cooperation for mutual benefit and win-win outcomes.
This fully demonstrates that establishing diplomatic ties with China conforms to the trend of the times and the will of the people. The establishment of strategic partnership between China and Nicaragua after two years of their resumption of diplomatic relations will enable more members of the international community to clearly recognize the general trend and make correct decisions in line with the trend of the times.