Seychelles' President Wavel Ramkalawan (R) meets with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Victoria, Seychelles, Jan. 9, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Yan)

VICTORIA, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan met with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday.

Wang said that Seychelles is a pearl on the Indian Ocean, an important member of the big family of China-Africa solidarity and cooperation, and a country that has long been friendly with China.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Seychelles. The two countries have always treated each other as equals and achieved fruitful results in practical cooperation, setting a good example of sincerity, friendship, mutual benefit and win-win outcomes between big and small countries, said Wang.

China firmly supports Seychelles in taking a development path suited to its national conditions and in the governance efforts of the new Seychelles government, he said.

"We believe that Seychelles will also continue to support China on issues concerning China's core interests. We are ready to take the opportunity of jointly building the Belt and Road and implementing the outcomes of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Beijing Summit to take our cooperation to a new level and build a community with a shared future for both sides in light of the economic and social development needs of Seychelles," said Wang.

Wang said that China is willing to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with Seychelles in the three areas of green environmental protection, blue ocean and tourism.

China fully understands the urgent desire of small island countries to cope with climate change. The two sides will sign the implementation agreement on the construction of low-carbon demonstration zones in South-South cooperation, he said.

China is also a major maritime country and would like to deepen cooperation with Seychelles in the fields of seafood farming, marine scientific research and shipping transportation, he said.

Seychelles is a country built on tourism. China is ready to encourage more Chinese tourists to visit Seychelles after the epidemic is brought under control, said Wang.

Wang said China is ready to listen to the views of Seychelles, work with African countries to prepare for a new FOCAC session, align development strategies, deepen the Belt and Road international cooperation, promote Africa's development and revitalization as well as independent and sustainable development, and upgrade China-Africa cooperation.

China regards Seychelles as an important member of the international community and stands ready to work with it to uphold multilateralism and international fairness and justice and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries, said Wang.

Ramkalawan warmly welcomed Wang's visit to Seychelles, saying that it shows China's support for Seychelles's fight against the epidemic.

Ramkalawan stressed the traditional friendship between the two countries and that China was one of the first countries to recognize the independence of Seychelles.

He thanked China for its long-term and valuable support for Seychelles' economic and social development. In particular, China provided several batches of anti-epidemic materials to Seychelles in time during the epidemic, which played an important role in Seychelles's fight against the epidemic.

" I myself would like to take the lead in administering the Chinese vaccine," he said.

Seychelles regards China as an important cooperative partner and fully agrees with the proposal of pragmatic cooperation put forward by China, which well meets its needs, said Ramkalawan.

Seychelles will continue to adhere to the one-China principle, understand and support China's legitimate position, strengthen coordination with China in international affairs and jointly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries, especially small and medium-sized countries, said Ramkalawan.

Wang also held talks with his Seychellois counterpart Sylvestre Radegonde on Saturday.