On October 20, 2023, Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong met with Special Envoy of President-elect of the Maldives Mohamed Saeed who is in China to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.

Sun Weidong said that China and the Maldives are traditional friendly neighboring countries. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the two countries have always respected each other, treated each other as equals, and helped each other with sincerity. China will, as always, support the Maldives in its efforts to safeguard national sovereign independence and territorial integrity, and stands ready to strengthen alignment and coordination with the Maldives, consolidate political mutual trust between the two sides, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields, and bring the future-oriented comprehensive friendly cooperative partnership between the two countries to a new level.

Mohamed Saeed said that the Maldives thanks China for providing help to the Maldives in the country's economic and social development for a long time. The Maldives will continue to adhere to the one-China principle, firmly supports and actively participates in Belt and Road development, and looks forward to deepening exchanges and cooperation with China in such fields as infrastructure construction, improvement of people's livelihood, and culture and tourism, so as to write a new chapter of the development of bilateral relations.