Chinese FM holds talks with visiting Moroccan counterpart on ties

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Foreign Minister of Morocco Nasser Bourita on Friday in Beijing.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said Morocco is one of the earliest Arab and African countries to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.

Noting that next year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the strategic partnership between China and Morocco, Wang said China is willing to work with Morocco to uphold the original aspiration of establishing diplomatic ties, maintain high-level exchanges, plan cooperation in various fields well, and jointly open up a brighter future for China-Morocco and China-Arab relations.

Wang said China is ready to work with the international community, including Morocco, to promote the development of the international order in a more just and reasonable direction.

Bourita asked Wang to convey the warm regards of Moroccan King Mohammed VI to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Bourita said Morocco firmly adheres to the one-China principle and fully supports China in safeguarding its national sovereignty and security.

Morocco is willing to deepen cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative with China, expand exchanges in various fields such as tourism, education and culture, and continuously promote the strategic partnership between the two countries, Bourita said, noting that Morocco welcomes and supports the Global Governance Initiative proposed by the Chinese side.

The two sides also had an in-depth exchange of views on the Middle East situation and other issues.

After the talks, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on establishing a strategic dialogue mechanism between the foreign ministries of the two countries.

Chinese FM holds talks with visiting Moroccan counterpart on ties

The U.S. State Department announced Wednesday that it is pausing immigrant visa processing from 75 countries.

The measure will apply to "countries whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates. The freeze will remain active until the U.S. can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people," the department said on X.

The pause impacts countries including Somalia, Haiti, Iran and Eritrea, "whose immigrants often become public charges on the United States upon arrival," said the State Department.

Earlier on Wednesday, the department announced in a memo that it would suspend visa processing for 75 countries, including Somalia, Russia, Afghanistan, Brazil, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Nigeria, Thailand and Yemen, according to a Fox News report.

The pause will begin Jan. 21 and will continue indefinitely until the department conducts a reassessment of visa processing, the report said. The move came after the White House announced on Tuesday that it is ending temporary protected status for Somali immigrants amid fraud allegations in Minnesota.

On Monday, the State Department announced on social media that it had revoked over 100,000 visas since U.S. President Donald Trump took office nearly a year ago.

In November 2025, Trump announced his intention to permanently suspend immigration from what he described as "Third World countries", following the death of a National Guard member after being shot near the White House by an Afghan national.

U.S. freezes immigrant visa processing from 75 countries