Beijing, July 11th—Sun Haiyan, Vice-minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, met here today on the morning with a delegation of South Asian female politicians, who were in China to attend the Forum on Global Action for Shared Development.

Sun said, China and South Asia are linked by mountains and rivers and share a long-standing friendship. In recent years, there have been frequent high-level exchanges between China and South Asian countries, and exchanges and practical cooperation in various fields under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative have been deepening and achieving fruitful results. Female politicians play a significant role in the political life of South Asian countries. The Chinese side is ready to strengthen exchanges with South Asian female politicians and other parties through inter-party and other channels, so as to promote social progress and people's well-being in regional countries and boost the development of relations between China and South Asian countries.

The foreign side spoke highly of the tremendous achievements China has made under the leadership of the CPC in economic and social development and women's cause. They looked forward to strengthening exchanges and mutual learning with the Chinese side on topics such as poverty alleviation, gender equality, and women's rights and interests, supporting exchanges between South Asian political parties and the CPC, and helping South Asian countries deepen friendly cooperation with China in various fields.