BEIJING, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- In China, people believe that good things should be in pairs.
Friday would be written into history books, when Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Kiribati's President Taneti Mamau signed a document to restore diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Coming just about one week after China and Solomon Islands signed a joint communique on the establishment of diplomatic ties, the restoration of diplomatic ties with Kiribati brings the number of countries having official diplomatic relations with China to 180 around the world.
It again proves that the one-China policy is a broad consensus among members of the international community.
Just like Wang noted after the signing of Friday's document, there is only one China in the world, the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing the whole of China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory.
A nation in the central Pacific Ocean, Kiribati had been under pressure before tying the knot with China, and the decision is anything but a hasty one.
Kiribati attended the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, and studied about China for quite some time. China helped Fiji build its highest building, Papua New Guinea its APEC venue, and Vanuatu its parliament. The real benefits in working with China are quite convincing to Kiribati.
But fostering closer ties with China means more than development assistance from Beijing. More importantly, it also means empowerment for growth. With real needs for development, Kiribati and China can go hand in hand in this respect.
According to Zhao Shaofeng, an expert in east China's Liaocheng University, Kiribati's economy relies largely on fishery.
"China could be a very big market," Zhao said. "Also, the development of fishery could further boost other industries like tourism and catering, so as to propel the growth of its economy."
Secondly, the Blue Economy advocated by the Pacific nations is in line with China's sustainable development initiatives.
China has won more friends around the world as it adheres to the principle of non-interference of other country's internal affairs and pursues win-win results in bilateral cooperation.
That holds truth even for some of the world's smallest countries.
China and Sao Tome and Principe resumed diplomatic ties in the end of 2016. Twenty months later, the agrarian country in the Gulf of Guinea saw the output of maize there up nearly 70 percent per hectare thanks to the cultivation technology from China.
China not only sent agricultural experts to Sao Tome and Principe for help, but also offered programs for local practitioners to be trained in China.
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. This is the way China works with its friends.
In June 2017, Panama established formal diplomatic relations with China. Trade between the two countries has been growing fast since then. And in June, China has begun to import beef from the Central American country.
In August 2018, El Salvador established diplomatic ties with China. Business and government delegations from both sides have exchanged visits and Salvadoran students have already enrolled in Chinese universities. Adding to the list are Burkina Faso and the Dominican Republic.
Just like Roberto Lorenzana, spokesperson for El Salvador's presidency, said earlier this year, establishing ties with China represented a "gateway to a comprehensive relationship, through which we can spur greater cultural, scientific, technological and economic development."
