Port Moresby to host China’s top diplomat

Port Moresby will be rolling out the red carpet at the Jacksons International Airport to welcome one of its important trading partners.

The Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China, Wang Yi will arrive on Saturday around 4pm for a 24 hour visit.

“The one-day visit is to sign a Memorandum of Understanding [MOU] between the Government of Papua New Guinea and the Peoples Republic of China on Agriculture and Economic Corporation [and] also there will be consultations for cooperation on cocoa and coffee to boost the Agriculture Sector.”

PNG was one of the first Pacific Island countries to establish diplomatic relations with China, nearly 50 years ago.

According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity [OEC], in the last 27 years the exports of China to Papua New Guinea have increased at an annualized rate of 18.1%, from US$15.9 million in 1995 to US$1.43 billion in 2022.

The tight schedule of the visit will see a courtesy call to Prime Minister James Marape and also the delivery of disaster relief supplies from the Guangdong Province in China.