National flags of China and Solomon Islands Photo: VCG

Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands Manasseh Sogavare arrived in Beijing to start his weeklong visit to China - his second - on Sunday, during which the leaders of the two countries will have in-depth exchanges of views on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of mutual interest. He will also inaugurate the country's embassy in China, meet company executives and visit East China's Jiangsu and South China's Guangdong provinces.

Sogavare's visit will undoubtedly inject strong development momentum to deepen and broaden bilateral cooperation, showcasing tangible gains through China ties which feature "mutual respect, mutual trust and mutual benefit" against the backdrop of Washington's exploitation of Pacific Island Countries (PICs) in the China-US rivalry, observers said.  

China-Solomon Islands relations have been on the fast track since the two countries established diplomatic relations in September 2019. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping warmly welcomed Sogavare during the latter's first visit in October 2019, when the two leaders charted the course of bilateral relations. In May 2022, then Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Solomon Islands and the two sides signed cooperation documents. 

Chinese Foreign Minister spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at Thursday's routine press briefing that Prime Minister Sogavare's visit to China, the second in four years, will provide new impetus for further growth in bilateral relations. The opening of the embassy, which was postponed by the COVID-19, will play a pivotal role in bridging the two countries and two peoples, Chen Hong, executive director at the Asia Pacific Studies Center of East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Sunday. 

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and Solomon Islands, despite being a latecomer to the BRI, tells a successful story of bilateral cooperation that has regional implications for the Asia-Pacific, Chen noted.  

According to analysts, infrastructure, hospitals and schools are some of the concrete topics on Sogavare's agenda. 

China has assisted the Solomon Islands to build a landmark stadium in Honiara, its capital. Chinese telecom giant Huawei is building a cellular network and a Chinese company has won the bid to redevelop Honiara port, Reuters reported Saturday. 

Sogavare will also visit Guangdong and Jiangsu - two engines of the Chinese economy - which signifies bilateral cooperation is becoming deeper and more profound, Chen said. 

Chen said that Guangdong's Jiangmen is a sister city of Honiara and lots of Guangdong businesspeople are exploring markets in the South Pacific. Guangdong can serve as a springboard for China-Solomons cooperation considering its economic vitality, and its special status in bilateral people-to-people exchanges, Chen noted. 

As the two countries move forward their relationship under the principle of "mutual respect, mutual trust and mutual benefit," the tangible benefits the Solomon Islands receive come in sheer contrast to US and Western aid, which shrank quickly and was largely applied in political and ideological fields, Yu Lei, chief research fellow at the Research Center for Pacific Island Countries of Liaocheng University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

To maintain sustainable development and long-term prosperity, the Solomon Islands rejected the West's Cold War mentality and the old way of treating the South Pacific as "an arena of strategic competition," analysts said. 

Sogavare's visit, coming amid the US and Australia's "charm offensive," smears against China and domestic elections in 2024, will consolidate mutual political trust and is a demonstration of the incumbent Solomon Islands government's clear mind on development and political wisdom in the middle of the current China-US rivalry, Chen noted.