President Xi’s special envoy to attend Maldives President-elect Muizzu’s swearing-in

Beijing, November 13

Chinese President Xi Jinping has deputed a senior ruling Communist Party official as his special envoy to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Maldivian President-elect Mohamed Muizzu later this week.

State Councilor Shen Yiqin will visit the Maldives from November 15 to 18 and attend the inauguration ceremony of Muizzu, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a media briefing here on Monday.

Shen will be visiting Maldives at the invitation of Muizzu, Mao said.

The election of Muizzu, stated to be a close associate of former pro-China Maldives President Abdulla Yameen, raised expectations in Beijing that the archipelagic state strategically located in the Indian Ocean close to India’s southern coast will pursue pro-Beijing policies, unlike the incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih who followed India’s first policy and established close ties with New Delhi.

In his message greeting Muizzu earlier, Xi said China and the Maldives enjoy a long history of friendly exchanges.

Xi, who visited Maldives in 2014 and announced several Chinese investments under China’s Belt and Road Initiative which subsequently evoked criticism of being “debt traps” by the country’s opposition parties, said the two countries are not only friends of sincere trust and mutual assistance but also partners of joint development and common prosperity.

After her Maldives visit, Shen will visit Sri Lanka from November from 18 to 21 at the invitation of the Sri Lankan government, Mao said.