Barbados ambassador reviews 39 years of ties with China

Dr. Chelston W. D. Brathwaite, Barbados ambassador to China, assessed the fruitful cooperation with China and said in Beijing recently that he looks forward to the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the country's independence and the 39th anniversary of the establishment of the two countries' diplomatic ties.

As one of the first Caribbean countries to support the "one China" policy, Barbados opened an embassy in Beijing in 2010, while China opened an embassy in Barbados in 1979.

Cooperation in culture, infrastructure, education, training, trade and commercial contacts between the two countries have increased since 2014, according to Brathwaite.

For instance, Barbados representatives participated in a Music Festival and the Youth Olympic Games in Beijing and Nanjing, respectively, in 2014. The two countries also cooperated in events such as the Caribbean Food Festival and a film exhibition during the China/Latin America and Caribbean Cultural exchange year.

Since May 2014 Barbados and China have agreed to exempt visas for diplomatic and official passport holders of both countries to facilitate personnel exchanges.

Some 20 Barbadian students currently study in China on Chinese government scholarships in areas such as information technology, medicine, agriculture, sustainable energy, actuarial science and ecology.

Universities in both countries signed an agreement to open a Confucius Institute at Cave Hill in Barbados in October 2014, which recently became a Chinese language proficiency testing center in the Caribbean region.

Treaties on mutual legal assistance and extradition cooperation also have been ratified by China and Barbados recently, according to Brathwaite.

China has also assisted in the construction and refurbishment of some most visible landmarks of Barbados, the ambassador added. For example, Barbados has recently received its first loan of 170 million US dollars from the Export-Import Bank of China (EXIM Bank) to fund the redevelopment of Sam Lord's Castle, an iconic and historical Barbados Hotel.

The foreign minister and representatives from China and member countries of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) met in January 2015 to discuss cooperation in areas such as human resources training, technology transfer, infrastructural development, climate change, energy, natural resources and cultural exchanges.

Further partnerships in common interest areas with China, ranging from trade, tourism, finance and investment, science and technology, education, sports and culture, security, renewable energy, food and agriculture and public health, are in process, the ambassador added.