Q: It was announced that Taoiseach of Ireland Micheál Martin will visit China. Can you share the program and China’s expectation of the visit?

A: The upcoming visit by Micheál Martin is another visit by a Taoiseach of Ireland to China in 14 years. During the vist, President Xi Jinping will meet with him, Premier Li Qiang and Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee Zhao Leji will hold talks and meet with him respectively to have in-depth exchanges of views on bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest. In addition to Beijing, Taoiseach Micheál Martin will visit Shanghai.

In recent years, the China-Ireland strategic partnership for mutually beneficial cooperation has enjoyed robust development. Our two sides have always treated each other with mutual respect and equality. Through open cooperation, we’ve achieved mutual complementarity and common development, and benefited our two peoples. Through the upcoming visit, China stands ready to work with Ireland to enhance political mutual trust, expand mutually beneficial cooperation and provide new impetus for the two sides to pursue high-quality development and sound and steady advancement of China-EU relations in the new era.