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BEIJING, Nov. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Xinhuanet has interviewed His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam with the 22nd APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting coming, who spoke highly of the relationship with China and made expectations on further cooperation.

1.Your Majesty has visited China many times, and the first time was in November 1993. Twenty-one years have passed, what’s your impression of today’s China compared to that of 1993? What’s your comment on China’s changes?

I am impressed by how rapidly China has developed over the past few years. China’s national development plan is showing a lot of progress and China continues to make remarkable strides towards economic prosperity and growth.

2. This is the first time that APEC summit is held in Beijing. Your Majesty, What do you expect from the summit?

I recall that the last time China hosted the Summit was in Shanghai in 2001. It was a very successful meeting. Although the issues have evolved, I am pleased to know that APEC has remained focused on making sure that it’s easier for goods and services to flow across the region. In terms of China’s priorities for this year, we are supportive of China’s proposals on regional economic integration, in particular the idea to explore the development of a free trade area of the Asia-Pacific. Currently, many of our economies have signed a number of bilateral and plurilateral free trade agreements. Some of the elements in these existing agreements can form the basis of a possible FTAAP in the future.

On the APEC Blueprint on Connectivity, it is a long-term process, but we see this as something very valuable for our businesses to connect, not just in the physical sense with proper infrastructure but also policy-reforms to help our businesses grow and expand. Another important element in this blueprint is the potential for our people to know and appreciate one another through exchanges like tourism and education. So we are happy to support this.

3. China and Brunei established foreign relations in 1991, and mutual trust and cooperation have been developing fast afterwards. Last year, Your Majesty and Chinese President Xi Jinping jointly raised Sino-Bruneian relationship to a higher level. What’s your comment on our mutual relationship? In which areas does Brunei expect to have more cooperation?

Our bilateral partnership has been progressing well especially now that we have raised it to the level of a Strategic Cooperative Relationship following my visit last year.

I think the frequent exchanges between both sides have helped very much, with the signing of a number of MOUs as well, in a number of sectors including economics, energy, infrastructure, agriculture and fisheries, defense and education. So I hope this will continue in order to strengthen this relationship further.

4.Brunei has always been a transportation hub in Southeast Asia. Seven centuries ago, China’s Zheng He led his fleet to Brunei twice. Now, China has proposed to set up a 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which coincides with the Bruneian goals of economic development in the “East Development Zone of ASEAN”. So, how much do Your Majesty think the Maritime Silk Road will help boost Sino-Bruneian relationship?

Maritime linkages are important to both Brunei and China. And so, China’s initiative on the Maritime Silk Road fits in well with initiatives on connectivity that we are also undertaking in ASEAN and in APEC. As a dialogue partner in ASEAN, China has been helping us implement the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity. And as I have mentioned earlier, we are working towards launching this APEC Blueprint on Connectivity.

All this will certainly expand our economic relations and people-to-people linkages, regionally and complements our cooperation bilaterally.

5. Last year, trade volume between China and Brunei reached 1.8 billion dollars, which reflected high-rising Chinese investment in your country. In energy, infrastructure agriculture, fisheries industry and other areas, more and more Chinese companies choose Brunei to look for opportunities. Your Majesty, what do you think are the advantages of Brunei to attract investment from China?

We appreciate very much the interest of Chinese companies to invest in Brunei. Our strategic location in the heart of Southeast Asia and along the East-West maritime trade route makes us easily accessible to neighboring economies and markets. Moreover, we have made efforts to enhance the business environment in Brunei to make it more favorable for investors, such as providing transparency and predictability.

As we continue with our economic diversification from the oil and gas sector, we are looking into getting more investors to come in to invest in the export-oriented manufacturing and services sector such as halal food processing, petrochemicals, information and communications technology and high-tech industries, as well as air and sea logistics, aviation and oilfield services. In addition to this, potential investors can leverage off our FTAs with ASEAN and ASEAN dialogue partners.

6. A Chinese proverb says: A good foreign relationship lies in people’s intimacy. What plans does Brunei have to further strengthen cultural ties between our two countries?

The relationship between our two people is not new, it has existed for centuries. So in a way, we share similar historical and cultural ties. In recent years we had worked to further strengthen this, and it has certainly brought us closer together as well as promoted better understanding between our people. Moving forward, we hope to further enhance this close interaction, especially between our young people.

7. Brunei was rotating president of ASEAN, and successfully hosted many important activities including the ASEAN Summit. China, in order to strengthen ties with ASEAN, proposed an upgraded version of Sino-ASEAN free trade zone, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, China-ASEAN offshore [investment] cooperation fund, etc. Your Majesty, what’s your comment on these proposals?

Over the years, ASEAN has enjoyed strong economic ties with China. This is demonstrated by the increasing volume of our bilateral trade and FDI. We are exploring a number of areas to enhance our economic integration efforts particularly through connectivity, trade and investment, such as upgrading the ASEAN-China FTA, and we are therefore supportive of initiatives by China to finance infrastructure projects in Brunei Darussalam.

I am confident that this will create more opportunities for both sides especially for our businessmen and women.

8. While China’s comprehensive strength keeps rising, some people continue to criticize China, saying that when China becomes powerful, it will choose to be hegemony, threatening regional security. What’s your comment on this opinion? In your eyes, what is the meaning of China’s development to the world?

China’s rise as an economic engine of growth has been remarkable and has contributed tremendously to global and regional development. At the same time, I believe that it has played an important role in the maintenance of international peace and security by advocating peaceful and collective growth. This is a win-win partnership as it contributes to our mutual growth and prosperity in the region and the world at large.

9. Your Majesty has a wide variety of interests. Do you have any interest in Chinese culture and history?

As you know, I have had the opportunity to visit China on numerous occasions, and experience the rich and vibrant Chinese culture. Our countries share close historical and cultural ties dating back over many centuries.

10. Your Majesty just celebrated 68th birthday. Could you share with Xinhuanet readers your reflections as the sovereign of your country?

Brunei’s economy has been progressing at a steady pace and our determination to move forward towards comprehensive and sustainable development remains strong. We are continuing to work towards diversifying the economy by maximizing the value of our domestic resources and developing our human resources. All this has been feasible because of regional peace and security and we appreciate very much the contribution of global partners including China.