The parliaments of Seychelles and China have reaffirmed their support for each other and reinforced the excellent relationship that exists between them.

This follows an official visit to the People’s Republic of China by a four-member delegation from the International Affairs Committee (IAC) of the National Assembly of Seychelles.

The delegation was led by the Deputy Speaker, Andre Pool, who is also the chairperson of the IAC.  Other members included the leader of the opposition David Pierre, elected member for Mont Fleuri Begitta Jeannevol and the committee secretary Luisa Waye-Hive.

The August 27-September 1 visit was at the invitation of the National People’s Congress of China (NPC) and it came after the election of the 18^th National People’s Congress which took place in March, 2013.

During the visit, the delegation paid courtesy calls on several high level parliamentary officials notably the vice-chairman of the standing committee of the NPC, Wang Shengjun; the deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs in China, Liu Zhenmin; the vice-chairperson of the standing committee of Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress, Zhong Yanqun; and the vice-chairperson of Foreign Affairs Committee of the NPC, Zhao Baige.

The meetings discussed ways to further strengthen the relationship between the parliaments of Seychelles and China. NPC has pledged to continue assisting the National Assembly of Seychelles, and it further anticipates seeing more exchanges between them.

It is to note that earlier this year, the Seychelles Investment Board organised an investment forum in Hong-Kong, and thus the National Assembly delegation took the opportunity of the visit to also seek the support of Chinese leaders to encourage and promote more Chinese investments in Seychelles.

In a statement, Mr Pool described the visit as successful. “Following this visit, I am very optimistic that Seychelles will continue to benefit from more support from the Chinese government,” he said.

The Chinese ambassador to Seychelles, Shi Zhongjun, was in China at the time of the visit and he accompanied the delegation to some of the meetings.

Forrás: ww.nation.sc