President Xi Jinping had a phone call with Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado on the evening of 5 June.

Xi pointed out that since the start of COVID-19, Costa Rica offered to provide medical supplies to China, an act of a friendship that China would never forget. China sees Costa Rica as an important partner in the fight against COVID-19 in Latin America, and has donated medical supplies to it and held video conferences to share experience. Given the serious COVID-19 situation in the region, China will continue to provide firm support and assistance as its ability permits to Costa Rica in line with its needs. China will, as always, firmly uphold international fairness and justice and the legitimate rights and interests of small and medium-sized developing countries. China will work with Costa Rica to strengthen international cooperation against COVID-19, safeguard the response efforts of developing countries, and contribute to global public health security.

Xi stressed that China sees Costa Rica as a trustworthy strategic partner. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties, bilateral relations have been moving forward smoothly, with fruitful cooperation in various fields. While COVID-19 has affected bilateral business and people-to-people exchanges to some extent, China remains committed to promoting long-term friendship and cooperation with Costa Rica, and to supporting Costa Rica’s economic development and improvement of its people’s wellbeing.

Xi underscored that it is important for the two sides to continue supporting each other’s core interests and major concerns, jointly plan for post COVID-19 cooperation, and further deepen and enhance practical cooperation in various fields under the Belt and Road Initiative. He expressed confidence that China-Costa Rica relations will enjoy greater development after the joint fight against the virus.

President Alvarado noted that over the past 13 years since Costa Rica and China established diplomatic relations, the two sides enjoy increasingly deeper friendship and expanding mutually beneficial cooperation. Costa Rica firmly sticks to the one-China principle. It stands ready to work with China to strengthen cooperation in public health, infrastructure, culture and other fields, and serve as a bridge and gateway for China to engage with Central America. He hoped that this will take the relationship between Costa Rica and China to a new level.

China is a great country, Alvarado said, and President Xi’s governance philosophy is truly admirable. He commended President Xi’s announcement that China’s COVID-19 vaccine would become a global public good and thanked China for the firm support to his country’s response efforts. Costa Rica is ready to work with China to uphold multilateralism, tackle climate change and other global challenges and promote world peace and development.