Li assures Tonga PM on China's reforms

Two nations set to cooperate on tourism, energy and agriculture

The new Chinese leadership is pushing forward with its development and reform initiatives, Premier Li Keqiang said on Monday, adding that these efforts will play an important role in the global economic recovery.

Li made the remarks when meeting visiting Tongan Prime Minister Siale'ataongo Tu'ivakano at the Great Hall of the People.

Li told his guest the government is "wholeheartedly pushing for scientific development and improving people's livelihoods", according to the Foreign Ministry.

Beijing is coordinating the targets of stable growth, structural adjustment and promoting reform, Li said, adding that proposed development and reform initiatives are being launched in the correct order.

The government will continue stimulating the vitality of the market and internal motivation of development by curbing the power of bureaucrats, Li said.

"The Chinese government will continue pushing forward reforms that will affect the whole economic situation in areas including fiscal, tax and financing and push for real economic development and structural adjustment," he said.

Sustainable and healthy development of the Chinese economy will play an important role in global economic recovery, Li said. He said Beijing would like to expand cooperation with Tonga in agriculture, fishery, new energy and tourism, as well as in global affairs.

Tu'ivakano said his country attaches great importance to its ties with China and admires China's achievements.

He conveyed condolences to China for the magnitude-6.6 earthquake that hit Gansu province at 7:45 am on Monday.

Chinese Ambassador to Tonga Wang Donghua said earlier this month that Beijing's efforts at fulfilling the "Chinese dream" will open opportunities for countries such as Tonga.

He was speaking at a ceremony celebrating the maiden flight in Tonga of the Modern Ark 60, a turboprop airliner made by China's Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation.

Tu'ivakano, alongside the King of Tonga and other high-ranking officials, watched the flight. The island country is the first buyer of the Modern Ark 60 in the South Pacific.

Wang said China will import goods worth $10 trillion in the next five years, and that Chinese citizens will make more than 100 million overseas visits in 2015.

Many Chinese enterprises are seeking investment opportunities abroad, the ambassador said.

Tonga, with unique resources including fisheries and tourism, has huge potential for cooperation with China, the added.

The Tongan prime minister came to China to attend the Eco-Forum Global, held over the weekend, in Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou province. The forum is an independent international organization committed to building a green world.

Tu'ivakano said at the forum that Tonga has set the goal of having renewable energy cover half of its energy consumption in 2020.

When meeting Tu'ivakano in Guiyang on Friday, Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli said China is willing to deepen dialogue with small island nations to better handle climate change.