China gives $100 million grant for Tonga. The new Tongan Government that is expected to come into power before the end of the year will have $100 million Renminbi (RMB – the Chinese currency) to work with from next year. Two other important documents that Tonga signed with China included: *China will provide an aid of vehicles, consisting of 15 sets of SUVs, 10 sets of cars and 5 sets of medium-buses for the coronation of His Majesty King Tupou VI, the most important event for Tonga in recent years. *China will offer 15million RMB in kind assistance to the Government of Tonga with a package of facilitates to improve its capability to response to climate change. This has been confirmed by the Chinese Ambassador in Tonga, Mr Huang Huaguang. And China will continue to strengthen ties with Tonga and other Pacific Island Countries because the Chinese Government places a lot of importance on helping the region as an integral part of the Asia Pacific region. Mr Huaguang told the local media during a press conference at the Chinese Embassy in Fasi on Friday that China has agreed to give Tonga a grant of 100 million RMB in grant aid for Tonga to support important projects. That was agreed at a meeting in Nadi, Fiji last month during the Pacific Tour of Chinese President Xi Jinping. This was part of discussions on the future cooperation strategies with leaders of Pacific Island countries (PICs) that President Xi held while on his Pacific Tour stop-over in Fiji. Mr Huaguang said the grant was part of an agreement that Tonga had signed with China. Current Finance Minister Dr Aisake ‘Eke signed the deal on behalf of Tonga. “That grant will be available for the government to use on what project it sees fit,” Mr Huaguang said. Mr Huaguang said China holds Tonga as an important partner in the region and the Chinese central government has upstaged relationships with Pacific countries. He said the visit by President Xi was the first time for a Chinese head of state to the Pacific, “which shows that China attaches great importance to its relation with this region”. President Xi had bilateral and group meetings with all of the 8 countries that have diplomatic ties with China. Mr Huaguang said all the leaders made a joint decision to establish a strategic partnership featuring mutual respect and common development, bringing China’s relation with PICs into a new stage. More than 30 bilateral agreements were signed during the meetings, covering the area of economy, ocean, climate change, infrastructure – all of which are closely connected with the development of PICs. “When meeting with Tongan Prime Minister Lord Tu’ivakano, President Xi noted that China-Tonga friendly exchanges enjoy a time-honored history,” Mr Huaguang said. “China cherishes its friendship with Tonga, supports the efforts of the Tongan government in maintaining domestic stability and promoting economic and social reform as well as sustainable development, and stands ready to enhance cooperation with Tonga in infrastructure construction, people’s livelihood, talent training and other fields and help Tonga cope with climate change within the framework of South-South cooperation.” Mr Huaguang said more than 30 years have passed since China endorsed the reform and open up policy. “Today, China’s destiny with that of the world, China’s development with world development and China’s opportunities with opportunities of the world are closely connected,” he said. “Both China and Tonga enjoy a long history and are members of the great Asia-Pacific family. The vast ocean does not separate us, but rather connect us together. “Since the establishment of diplomatic relations 16 years ago, China-Tonga relations experienced a sound and steady growth, which benefit our people. “Chinese government is ready to work together with Tonga to implement the results of leaders’ meeting, further push forward our cooperation and be the strategic partnership of mutual respect and common development.” He said that during the group meeting in Nadi, President Xi announced package plans to support the economic and social development of the island countries. In the coming four years, China will offer 2.5 billion RMB grant aid to support important projects in this region. China will grant zero-tariff treatment to 97 percent tax items of exports of the least developed countries. Last year, during the China-Pacific Islands Countries Development Form, China decided to provide US$1 Billion loans on favorable terms and US$1 Billion commercial loan for infrastructure constructions. China will double the input to support the projects of great importance for the development of local economy and people’s livelihood for PICs. In the next five years, China will provide 2000 scholarship quotas and 5000 quotas for study and training in various fields for the island countries. China will build the Climate Change Fund for South-South Cooperation to help developing countries to deal with Climate Change and donate US$6 million to support the work of the United Nations Secretary General in this regard. “All these measures are supported with concrete inputs from China and will be realized by each project,” Mr Huaguang said. “They are practical and fit the PICs’ need. All these efforts will help the island countries convert resource advantages into development advantages as well as enhance the capacity for sustainable development.”
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 06:29:42 +0000
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