Chinese Ambassador to Timor-Leste Xiao Jianguo says Timorese athletes are most welcome to compete in Winter Olympics due to be held in Beijing next year, his embassy says.

Mr Xiao and a Timorese government official holding a sport portfolio, Abrão Saldanha, met last Thursday, and the ambassador told Mr Saldanha that China would do all it could to help Timorese to compete successfully, according to a written statement issued that day by the Chinese Embassy in Dili.

The statement quotes Mr Saldanha as replying that Timorese athletes are actively preparing for the Winter Olympics.

Mr Saldanha called for more Sino-Timorese cooperation in matters of education and sport.

China is amenable to greater cooperation, and will keep helping Timor-Leste to counter COVID-19, the Chinese Embassy in Dili quotes Mr Xiao as saying.