Photo: Chen Qingqing/GT

Honduras officially inaugurated its embassy in Beijing, the capital of China, on Sunday within three months after the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Honduras. The Central American country severed so-called "diplomatic" relations with the Taiwan island on March 25.

Around 11 am on Sunday, the inauguration ceremony of the Honduran Embassy in China was held at the Jianguomen Diplomatic Residence Compound in Beijing. Both Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Honduran Foreign Minister Enrique Reina attended the ceremony.
 
The opening ceremony commenced with the playing of the national anthems of China and Honduras. Both Qin and Reina gave speeches and jointly unveiled the plaque for the embassy.

Honduran President Xiomara Castro earlier announced the naming of Salvador Enrique Moncada, a famous pharmacologist and medical researcher, as the first ambassador of Honduras to China. 

The inauguration of the Honduran Embassy in China holds great significance, Honduras reiterates that it upholds the one-China principle and is looking forward to cooperating with China in trade, the Belt and Road and Global Development Initiatives, Honduran Foreign Minister Reina told at the inauguration ceremony. 

Qin said at the ceremony that since the establishment of the diplomatic ties between China and Honduras, the two countries have enhanced exchanges and all-level interactions have been underway with nearly 20 cooperation deals finalised. 

“The facts have proven that upholding the one-China principle is the general trend and the will of the people,” Qin said, noting that the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Honduras is in line with the fundamental interests of the people of the two countries.

The inauguration ceremony was held during a six-day state visit by Castro to China, which also marks the first visit to the country by a Honduran president. 

China officially inaugurated its embassy in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras on June 5 (local time) less than three months after the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Honduras following Foreign Minister of Honduras Eduardo Enrique Reina’s visit of Beijing in March.

Photo: Chen Qingqing/GT

 
On March 26, China and Honduras signed a Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Honduras. The two countries decided to mutually recognize and establish ambassador-level diplomatic relations from the day the communiqué was signed. Honduras has become the 182nd country to establish diplomatic relations with China. 

The establishment of diplomatic relations is the first step, and China and Honduras now are taking the second step of setting up embassies and appointing ambassadors to move toward the third step – comprehensive cooperation, Jiang Shixue, professor at the Center for Latin American Studies at Shanghai University, told the Global Times. “The visit by President Castro will surely vigorously promote the relationship between the two countries toward the third step.” 

Castro started her visit to China from Shanghai, where she visited the headquarters of the BRICS-led New Development Bank (NDB) and a Huawei research center on Saturday, indicating to Honduran government’s elevated interests and eagerness to develop economic and trade relations with China, some Chinese experts said. 

They believed that the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries could serve as a ballast-stone role in the bilateral relations. 

In terms of infrastructure, energy, road construction and other areas, Honduras is expected to benefit from China’s investment. The country has expressed its willingness to join the Belt and Road Initiative and sign a free trade agreement with China, which is also beneficial to the development of bilateral economic and trade ties, Jiang said.