On September 3, 2012, Vice Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng went to the Maltese embassy in China to extend condolences to Malta's former Prime Minister Dom Mintoff who died of disease. On behalf of the Chinese government, Xie extended deep grief over the demise of Mintoff, spoke highly of the contributions Mintoff has made to the development of China-Malta relations as one of the founders of the Sino-Maltese diplomatic relations and asked Maltese Ambassador to China Joseph Cassar to convey the sincere condolences of the Chinese side to the government and people of Malta and Mintoff's family members.

Xie said China attaches great importance to Sino-Maltese relations and will continue to develop friendly cooperation with Malta.

Cassar thanked Xie for extending the condolences on behalf of the Chinese government and stressed that Malta is willing to further promote the traditional friendly relations with China.