Chinese Premier Li Qiang has highlighted “huge potential” in relations with Dublin after the Asian nation announced it would allow Irish nationals to enter the country without visas.
In the first visit by a senior Chinese official to Ireland since 2015, Premier Li met with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar and Irish President Michael D. Higgins to discuss global issues including trade.
During his visit, Li praised the “close ties” between the two countries. He said China and Ireland should work together to maintain a “free and open international trade system” and maintain the “smooth flow of global industrial and supply chains.”
After the meeting, China announced that it would apply a unilateral visa exemption policy to Ireland in order to promote exchanges between the two countries, state news agency Xinhua reported. In recent months, China has announced similar visas for citizens of Switzerland, France, Germany and Italy as part of its efforts to open up and promote cross-border exchanges.
Ireland was the only other stop on Lee’s European trip to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos. China has recently been working to strengthen its international diplomacy with the aim of rebuilding the US-led world order.
Mr Varadkar cited the “growing economic relationship” between the two countries and said Mr Li had agreed for China to reopen the export market for Irish beef. Last year, China suspended imports of Irish beef after atypical BSE (mad cow disease) infections were discovered in Irish cattle. Mr Barakdal said China was Ireland’s largest trading partner in the Asia-Pacific region.
“We want a very strong and constructive relationship with China,” Mr Varadkar said after his meeting with Mr Li. “One is based on trust and respect, and the other is based on our values and the multilateral system of which we are both stakeholders.”
“Of course we won’t be able to agree on everything, but I hope that we can talk to each other as openly, respectfully and openly as we have today,” Varadkar added.
President Higgins raised the human rights issue with Lee, his office confirmed in a press release. The report said Higgins referred to the Universal Periodic Review meeting being held in Geneva, which aims to review countries’ human rights records, and the issues that may arise during that process.