Strengthen Bilateral Ties: President Xi Meets Brunei's Crown Prince
Beijing (ANTARA) - Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Brunei’s Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office, Al-Muhtadee Billah, and agreed to strengthen ties between the two countries.
“China-Brunei cooperation not only brings tangible benefits to the people of both nations but also serves as a model for large and small countries to treat each other equally and collaborate for mutual gain,” said President Xi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday.
China and Brunei, according to the President, are close neighbours, and the Maritime Silk Road has closely connected the two countries.
“Last year, the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, and I reached important consensus on building a China-Brunei community with a shared future, which opened a new chapter in bilateral relations,” revealed President Xi.
This year marks the 35th anniversary of China-Brunei diplomatic relations.
“Facing an international situation filled with changes and turbulence, the two countries need to take the building of a China-Brunei community with a shared future as a guide, strengthen strategic communication, deepen practical cooperation, and provide more positive energy for regional peace and stability,” added President Xi.
President Xi Jinping also emphasised that this year is the starting point for the implementation of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan, while Brunei is advancing towards “Vision 2035”.
“The two countries need to use this as a convergence point to elevate China-Brunei cooperation to a new level,” stated President Xi.
President Xi also conveyed four steps that the two countries can take to strengthen relations.
“First, we need to be strategic partners with a high level of mutual trust, continue to firmly support each other, and comprehensively promote exchanges and cooperation in various fields,” said President Xi.
Second, both sides need to be mutually beneficial development partners, advance large-scale flagship cooperation projects, and expand cooperation in new areas such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the digital economy.
“Third, both sides need to be partners in civilisation that understand and are close to each other, jointly implement the Global Civilisation Initiative, strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and create new highlights in people-to-people relations,” stated President Xi.
Fourth, the two countries need to be partners in global governance cooperation, together with ASEAN countries, to promote the building of a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future, and build this region into a plateau of demonstration for peace, stability, development, and prosperity amid profound global changes unseen in a century.
Meanwhile, Prince Billah conveyed sincere greetings from Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah to President Xi Jinping.
“Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah sends warm greetings and looks forward to meeting President Xi at the 2026 APEC Summit in Shenzhen,” said Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah.
Billah stated that China is Brunei’s old friend, and the peoples of both countries have deep friendships.
“Brunei steadfastly implements the ‘One China’ policy and is willing to work with China to promote the vision of building a community with a shared future as established by the leaders of both countries, deepen strategic partnership relations, maintain close high-level ties, and strengthen trade and investment cooperation to benefit the peoples of both sides,” added Prince Billah.
He believes that China will be able to implement the new blueprint of the 15th Five-Year Plan and achieve greater development.
“China has played an important role in promoting world peace and stability, as well as safeguarding multilateralism and the international order. We appreciate the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind and the Global Governance Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping,” stated Prince Billah.
The comprehensive strategic partnership between ASEAN and China, according to Prince Billah, has brought benefits to the region.
“Brunei looks forward to close cooperation with the Chinese side to deepen ASEAN-China cooperation and maintain regional prosperity and stability,” he said.
Also present at the meeting were Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao, Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Zheng Shanjie, and other relevant officials.
China is one of Brunei’s largest trading partners, and China has also contributed to major projects in Brunei such as the Hengyi petrochemical complex. In 2023, the two countries agreed to build a China-Brunei community with a shared future.