Chinese senior official to visit Fiji

On the invitation of Fiji's Minister of Foreign Affairs Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, Liu Jieyi, vice-minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, will arrive in Fiji Tuesday night for a two-day visit, the Fijian government announced Tuesday afternoon. The arrival of Liu "adds to the list of high level official visits to enhance the already strong relations between Fiji and China," and the visit is to "enhance mutual trust, deepen bilateral co-operation, broaden exchanges, seek common development and promoting the long-term stable development of friendly relations and cooperation between China and Fiji," Fiji's Ministry of Information said in a statement. During his visit here, Liu is scheduled to meet with the Attorney General and Minister for Trade and Tourism Aiyaz Sayed- Khaiyum, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ratu Inoke Kubuabola and the Public Service Commission permanent secretary Parmesh Chand. Liu's visit to Fiji comes at a time when Kubuabola has just completed his China visit. In February, Kubuabola visited China to meet his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi in Beijing. The meeting was held to discuss a myriad of issues concerning the two countries and deliberate on ongoing developments that formed part of the Fiji-China bilateral relations. Kubuabola also took the time to discuss about the developments in Fiji regarding the implementation of its roadmap towards the 2014 democratic elections. In doing so, he acknowledged with appreciation the support and assistance provided by China. As a step towards strengthening bilateral relations, Yang and Kubuabola agreed to engage more through high-level visits by both governments in 2013.