Seychelles seeks deeper cooperation with China at national, party level: president

As China and Seychelles celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, President of Seychelles Patrick Herminie has shared his expectations for deeper cooperation not only between the two countries, but also between the ruling parties of the two countries, in areas such as economic development, technology, as well as social governance.

In an exclusive interview with China Central Television (CCTV) aired on Friday, the president expressed his appreciation for the longstanding friendship between the two countries and his hopes for its future development.

"Our relationship with China, like you rightly pointed out, sponsors a period of 50 years. China as a country has done a lot to help us in terms of nation building, capacity building, training and stuff like that, as well as the development of infrastructure. So, we are very, very grateful for that and we hope that this relationship continues of our mutual benefits. China is now very advanced in many fields, especially in technology, digitalization, and AI. Definitely, these are areas that we are looking forward to cooperating with China and learn from their expertise and experience to help us with our own development, given the digital revolution ongoing now in the world," he said.

In addition to state-to-state ties, the Communist Party of China and the United Seychelles Party have long maintained close relations. The president also expressed expectations for deeper exchanges between the two countries as well as between the two parties across multiple sectors.

"First of all. Better public administration, economic governance, of course, the capacity building for party cadres. China has a vast experience in that field. Yes, we expect our young people (to step up) youth-to-youth, people-to-people exchange. We expect to see a few of them going to China very soon. In fact, I think there's a cohort of 15 who will be going to China to learn political science and stuff like that. To enable us as a party to progress, given all the challenges that exist, not only in Seychelles but [also] in the world, we expect to learn a lot and to benefit a lot from that relationship. And in difficult moments, China, and the Communist Party of China, has helped us and we are very grateful for that," said the president.

Seychelles seeks deeper cooperation with China at national, party level: president

China's fast development over the past decades has significantly transformed the society, said Patrick Herminie, president of the Republic of Seychelles, as he recalled his first visit to the country about 35 years ago.

Herminie made the comments in an interview with China Media Group (CMG) in Seychelles' capital Victoria, which was aired on Friday.

He spoke highly of the development China has achieved over the past three decades, especially in emerging industries such as artificial intelligence.

"I was surprised, I was impressed by the level of development, technological development and the use of artificial intelligence for better public service, smart services. I think China is leading the world. That's my personal opinion. You know, when I first visited China some 35 years ago, there were only bicycles. But today, China is just incredible -- the roads, the cars. It's a revolution, it's not even a revolution, it's a transformation of a society. And I think, yes, you have done very well, and I was very impressed with what I saw," said Herminie.

China has remained the world's second-largest economy for more than a decade and developed the largest middle-income group, while overall living standards have continued to rise.

The country is also driving continuous breakthroughs in frontier technologies, fostering the development of future industries as part of efforts to cultivate new growth engines.

China's fast development over past decades transforms society: President of Seychelles