China, Honduras sign 17 docs in 1st presidential-level talks
Chinese President Xi Jinping hosts Honduran counterpart Castro after the Central American nation snapped ties with Taiwan.
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Honduran President Xiomara Castro arrived in Shanghai on Friday on her first visit since China established ties with her nation, pulling it away from former diplomatic ally Taiwan. (AP)
Two months after Honduras severed ties with Taiwan, Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed Honduran President Iris Xiomara Castro Sarmiento to Beijing on Monday for their first-ever bilateral meeting.
Castro began her six-day state visit to China last week, and Xi hosted a lavish welcoming ceremony to welcome her. To strengthen recently formed bilateral connections, the two parties signed around 17 bilateral documents.
"China is ready to develop friendly relations with Honduras, support Honduras’ economic and social development, and be a good friend and partner of Honduras with mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit, and common development, bringing more tangible results to the greater benefit of the two peoples," Xi told Castro during the meeting.
The signature of 17 bilateral cooperation documents in fields such as the Belt and Road construction, economy, trade, quality inspection, agriculture, science and technology, and culture and education was observed by the two leaders, according to China's assistant foreign minister Hua Chunying.
For the first time since the Central American country severed ties with Taiwan and established full diplomatic ties with Beijing in March, Castro, 63, landed in China on Friday.
Read: Honduras makes official request to join BRICS-led NDB
She started her journey in Shanghai by stopping by the New Development Bank (NDB) of the BRICS, where she spoke with Dilma Rousseff, the bank's president, making an official request for her country's membership in the Bank.
Earlier, the almost 10 million-person nation of Central America had diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which China views as its "breakaway province".
Taiwan is an "inseparable" part of Chinese territory, according to the Honduran Foreign Ministry, which acknowledged China as the "only legitimate government that represents all of China" in March.
Last Monday, Beijing inaugurated its embassy in Honduras. Around 21 Honduran journalists arrived in China on Thursday before Castro's trip.
After Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taipei, Taiwan now only has 13 diplomatic allies.
Read: EU challenges China ties, Taiwan FM to drop in Europe unannounced: WSJ
