At the invitation of Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Tunisia Khemaies Jhinaoui will pay an official visit to China from July 17 to 21.

China and Tunisia enjoy traditional friendship. During the past 53 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the bilateral relations have witnessed sound and steady growth and cooperation in various fields has achieved steady progress. The Chinese side supports Tunisia's efforts in maintaining national stability and development and stands ready to work with the Tunisian side to continue to cement political mutual trust, strengthen exchanges and cooperation in various fields so as to move forward the development of the bilateral relations.

This is the first visit of Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui to China since he took office and this is also a visit in return for Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to Tunisia in May last year. Both China and Tunisia attach great importance to this visit. During the visit, the Chinese leaders will meet with Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will hold talks with him.

We hope to have an exchange of in-depth views on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of common concern during this visit so as to consolidate consensus, deepen cooperation, enhance friendship and promote the sound and rapid development of China-Tunisia relations.