Government of Timor-Leste

Minister of State and of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and

Official Spokesperson for the Government of Timor-Leste

Díli, April 14, 2014

Joint Statement between the People's Republic of China and The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste on Establishing Comprehensive Partnership of Good-neighbourly Friendship, Mutual Trust and Mutual Benefit

1. At the invitation of Premier Li Keqiang of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste paid an official visit to China and attended the annual conference of Bo'ao Forum for Asia (BFA) from 6 to 14 April 2014. This was the first official visit paid by Prime Minister of Timor-Leste in 11 years. The Chinese side attached great importance to the visit.

President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China met with Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão. The two sides reviewed the positive progress in bilateral relations since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries on 20 May 2002, and reached important consensus to establish China-Timor-Leste comprehensive partnership of good-neigbourly friendship, mutual trust and mutual benefit. Premier Li Keqiang held talks with Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão. The two sides agreed to strengthen the cooperation between the two countries in political, economic, trade, energy, agricultural, defense and security areas. Chairman Zhang Dejiang of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress also met with Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão.

2. The Chinese side spoke highly of the achievements Timor-Leste made in its development since its founding, and expressed its willingness to continue rendering help within the scope of its capacity to Timor-Leste for its national development, social progress and improvement of People's well-being. The Timor-Leste side cherished the friendship with China and expressed gratitude to the Chinese Government and People for their enormous support and assistance before and after Timor-Leste was founded as an independent country.

3. The two sides reaffirmed that all nations, big or small, rich or poor, strong or weak, are all equal members of the international society. China reiterated its respect for Timor-Leste's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Timor-Leste reiterated its firm adherence to the one China policy, recognized that there is but one China in the world, the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole lawful Government representing the whole of China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory. Timor-Leste is opposed to any form of "Taiwan independence", will not establish any form of official relationship or conduct any form of official contacts with Taiwan, and supports peaceful development of cross-Straits relations and China's peaceful reunification.

4. The two sides agreed to maintain regular bilateral exchanges and enhance communication and cooperation between the governments, legislative organs, political parties, friendship groups and local governments so as to promote mutual understanding and trust.

5. The two sides agreed to expand bilateral trade and investment scale, strengthen cooperation in connectivity building and infrastructure development, and raise the level of bilateral trade and economic cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual benefit and in keeping with their respective development strategies.

6. The two sides agreed to study possible cooperation in the areas of petroleum and related human resources training.

7. The Government of Timor-Leste spoke highly of the progress achieved in hybrid rice breeding cooperation between the two countries, and believed that this helps Timor-Leste to achieve self-sufficiency in food. The two sides agreed to continue strengthening cooperation in food production and agricultural capacity building, and explore effective means to carry out fishery cooperation.

8. The Timor-Leste Government expressed appreciation to the Chinese Government for sending medical teams to provide medical services to the Timor-Leste people. The Chinese side expressed its willingness to provide assistance in the areas of medical equipment maintenance and medical personnel training.

9. China welcomed more Timor-Leste students to China for further studies. The Chinese Government will provide more scholarships to Timor-Leste students through various channels. The Timor-Leste side expressed its appreciation.

10. The two sides agreed to enhance cultural and sports exchanges, expand youth and think-tank interactions to enhance mutual understanding and the popular support for China-Timor-Leste friendship.  Both sides agreed to promote media exchanges and cooperation. The Timor-Leste Government was willing to provide convenience to Chinese media for opening overseas offices and landing Chinese TV programs in Timor-Leste.

11. The two sides agreed to enhance tourism cooperation, encourage their citizens to travel to each other's country, boost the tourism infrastructure development of Timor-Leste, assist each other in holding tourism promotion activities and the provision of Chinese tourism technical expertise to Timor-Leste to improve tourism sector capacity.

12. The two sides agree to strengthen cooperation in the area of civil aviation and to explore possibilities for rendering technical assistance and training to build Timor-Leste capacity.

13. The two sides agreed to deepen defence and security cooperation, boost cooperation in such areas as mutual visits of delegations, ship visits and personnel training to promote common security.

14. The Timor-Leste Government spoke highly of the contribution made by the Chinese peace-keeping police, through the United Nations Mission, to Timor-Leste's peace and social stability. Both sides agreed to enhance law enforcement cooperation, jointly combat transnational crimes and protect the safety of institutions and nationals in each other's countries.

15. The Timor-Leste Government appreciated and supported the proposals made by the Chinese Government to build a 21st-century Maritime Silk Road and an Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and would actively participate in these processes.

16. The Timor-Leste Government reaffirmed its commitment to joining ASEAN and strengthening cooperation with countries in the region through the ASEAN platform. The Chinese Government expressed appreciation for this, and supported Timor-Leste in playing a bigger role in regional cooperation.

17. The two sides agreed to enhance communication and coordination under the framework of ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), and jointly push forward pragmatic cooperation on non-traditional security issues such as disaster relief, maritime security, counter-terrorism and combatting transnational crimes to jointly maintain regional peace, development and prosperity.

18. The two sides commended the important role of the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macau) in promoting mutually beneficial cooperation and economic ties. Both sides would fully implement the achievements of the Forum and enhance cooperation under its framework.

19. The two sides supported the United Nations (UN) in playing a central role in maintaining world peace, promoting common development and pushing forward international cooperation, and supported necessary and reasonable reform to the UN including its Security Council, to raise their capacity in meeting various threats and challenges and better fulfilling the responsibilities bestowed by the Charter of the United Nations. The priority of the Security Council reform should be placed on increasing the representation and say of developing countries so that small and medium-sized countries have more opportunities to participate in the decision-making. Both sides believed that UN member states should seek a package solution to the Security Council reform and reach broadest possible consensus.

20. The two sides agreed that climate change is a common challenge confronting human-beings and requires an international response. Both sides agreed to strive for positive results at the 2015 Climate Change Conference in Paris in accordance with the principles set out in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, especially the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities, equity and respective capabilities to safeguard the common interests of developing countries. The two sides would enhance pragmatic cooperation in climate change to improve the ability in meeting the climate challenge.

21. During the visit, the two sides signed the documents as follows: Agreement between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste on Mutual Visa Exemption for Holders of Diplomatic and Service Passports, Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste on Strengthening Cooperation, Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, Letter of Intent on Tourism Exchange and Cooperation between the National Tourism Administration of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Tourism of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and Letter of Intent on the Establishment of Friendly Relationship between Fujian Province of the People's Republic of China and Dili District of Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste.

22. Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão expressed gratitude for the warm and friendly hospitality of the Chinese Government and People, and looked forward to early visits to Timor-Leste by Chinese leaders.