President and first lady to visit China on 6th December
The president and first lady are to visit Beijing
President Abdulla Yameen with Chinese President Xi Jinping
President Abdulla Yameen and first lady Fathimath Ibrahim are to leave to China for a three-day visit.
The president and first lady are to visit Beijing on the 6th of December, and will conclude their trip on 9th December.
The visit is reportedly on invitation by China’s President Xi Jinping, and both he and President Yameen are to engage in talks on the relations between both countries.
Maldives has been part of some of the projects run under China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative and the Future of Globalization’.
The government had proposed a free trade agreement with China in parliament last week, and reports have surfaced that President Yameen will sign said agreement during this visit.
The free trade agreement has proven to be highly contentious, with several actors in the local economy as well the Maldives Trade Union arguing that it would detrimental to local businesses.
