Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Thursday that China is ready to deepen cooperation with Brunei in fighting COVID-19, support Brunei in carrying out vaccination and help it overcome the pandemic at an early date.
Wang made the remarks in a telephone conversation with Erywan bin Pehin Yusof, second minister of foreign affairs of Brunei, the rotating chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Wang said this year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Brunei as well as the 30th anniversary of the establishment of dialogue relations between China and ASEAN, which is of great significance to China-Brunei and China-ASEAN relations.
The two sides should take the dual 30-year anniversaries as an opportunity to carry forward traditional friendship, focus on development and cooperation, deepen high-quality cooperation in the Belt and Road Initiative and lift China-Brunei and China-ASEAN relations to a new level, said the Chinese foreign minister.
For his part, Erywan congratulated China on the successful 2021 annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia, saying the event is a positive contribution both to the global fight against the pandemic and to the global economic recovery.
Erywan thanked China for supporting Brunei in fulfilling its duty as the rotating chair of ASEAN.
Brunei is willing to work with China to ensure the success of the dual 30-year anniversaries' celebrations and work for substantive progress in the Brunei-China strategic cooperative partnership as well as ASEAN-China ties, he said.
The two sides also exchanged views on the Myanmar situation.
