China is willing to expand cooperation with East Timor, said Chen Zhu, Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People’s Congress (NPC).

Mr Chen made the remarks while separately meeting with East Timor President Taur Matan Ruak and with Prime Minister Rui Araújo, Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua reported. The NPC Vice-Chairman took a three-day visit to the Southeast Asian nation last week.

The two countries established a “comprehensive cooperative partnership” last year, opening a new chapter for bilateral relations, Mr Chen said, as quoted by Xinhua.

China is willing to expand co-operation with East Timor in economy, trade and infrastructure under the ‘21st Century Maritime Silk Road’ framework, Mr Chen added.

The initiative with that name was put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, better to connect the economies in Asia, Middle East, Europe and East Africa through infrastructure improvements.

The East Timor leaders were quoted by Xinhua as saying they would “actively participate” in the development of the Silk Road initiative.