President of the Republic of Cyprus Tassos Papadopoulos has said
in Nicosia that his country would further promote the already
cordial and important relations with China and enhance bilateral
cooperation in economy and tourism.
In an exclusive written interview with Xinhua prior to a
five-day state visit to China beginning today, Papadopoulos said
his upcoming visit would provide an opportunity to further
consolidate the political bilateral cooperation and exchange views
on major international issues of common interest.
As this year marks the 35th anniversary of the establishment of
diplomatic relations between Cyprus and China, he praised the
steady and decisive development of bilateral ties in the past 35
years and put Cyprus-China relations as one of the top priories of
Cyprus's policy.
"I am particularly happy to observe that the past few years have
witnessed a rapid development of our traditional friendly relations
in various fields, on the basis of equality and mutual respect," he
said.
The president said he also viewed the visit as a chance to
explore new economic and trade partnerships, and increase exchanges
between the two peoples, especially in the field of tourism.
He highly valued the economic and trade cooperation between his
country and China in recent years, saying "recent years have
witnessed a fast growth in trade relations between our two sides
and this development naturally is greatly facilitated by the
existence of a framework of excellent political relations between
Cyprus and China."
He said "we would encourage, for instance, the registration and
establishment of international (offshore) companies by Chinese
entrepreneurs in Cyprus, as well as Chinese investment in our
country."
"Cyprus has the lowest corporation tax in the European Union
(EU), at a level of 10 percent on taxable profit of such
companies," he added.
Cyprus would strengthen cooperation with Chinese travel agencies
organizing multi-country trips to Europe, the president said,
noting he hoped the Chinese agencies would list Cyprus on their
tourist maps.
Furthermore, he said Cyprus, as a member of the European Union,
hopes to make some positive contributions to the promotion of the
strategic relationship between the EU and China.
Cyprus is participating in the dialogue between the EU and
China, and will continue to support legitimate requests that
Beijing is negotiating with Brussels, he added.
"A very recent example was the debate on imposing a 26 percent
import duty on Chinese shoes, where Cyprus had a most constructive
role," said the president.
Located in the close proximity of the trade routes between
Europe, the Middle East, Russia and the Far East, Cyprus is
becoming an increasingly attractive center of services,
Papadopoulos said.
Papadopoulos reiterated his country's adherence to the one-China
policy, saying "Cyprus unreservedly supports the territorial
integrity and sovereignty of the People's Republic of China."
The president said Cyprus shares the view that the existing
problem in cross-Straits relations between China's mainland and
Taiwan can be solved on the basis of "one country, two
systems."
He also expressed the confidence that the 2008 Beijing Olympic
Games would be a tremendous success, which would prove once again
that China is capable of great achievements.
He added that he sincerely believes that China fully deserves to
be the host of the next Olympics and the organization will excel
any previous ones.
China and Cyprus established diplomatic relations at
ambassadorial level on Dec. 14, 1971. Bilateral relations have been
developing smoothly ever since.
Invited by Chinese President Hu Jintao, Papadopoulos will pay a state visit
to China on Dec. 4-8.
(Xinhua News Agency December 4, 2006)
