Li assures Tonga PM on China's reforms

Chinese Ambassador to Tonga Wang Donghua said earlier this month that Beijing's efforts at fulfilling the "Chinese dream” will open opportunities for countries such as Tonga.

He was speaking at a ceremony celebrating the maiden flight in Tonga of the Modern Ark 60, a turboprop airliner made by China's Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation.

Tu'ivakano, alongside the King of Tonga and other high-ranking officials, watched the flight. The island country is the first buyer of the Modern Ark 60 in the South Pacific.

Wang said China will import goods worth $10 trillion in the next five years, and that Chinese citizens will make more than 100 million overseas visits in 2015.

Many Chinese enterprises are seeking investment opportunities abroad, the ambassador said.

Tonga, with unique resources including fisheries and tourism, has huge potential for cooperation with China, the added.

The Tongan prime minister came to China to attend the Eco-Forum Global, held over the weekend, in Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou province. The forum is an independent international organization committed to building a green world.

Tu'ivakano said at the forum that Tonga has set the goal of having renewable energy cover half of its energy consumption in 2020.

When meeting Tu'ivakano in Guiyang on Friday, Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli said China is willing to deepen dialogue with small island nations to better handle climate change.