On 8th May 2007, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to Malta, H.E. Chai Xi made a courtesy call on the Honourable Helen D'Amato, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry for Health, the Elderly and Community Care at the Ministry, Palazzo Castellania, Valletta. Ambassador Chai and the Honourable Helen D'Amato held a cordial meeting with each other talking about the longstanding and close friendship between the two countries, especially the excellent relations in the field of ageing.

Ambassador Chai with the Honourable Helen D'Amato

Amb. Chai said, it is indeed a great honour for him to be the Chinese Ambassador to Malta that is a friendly and warm country towards China. Over the past 35 years of diplomatic relations, China and Malta have established a kind of friendly, close, cooperative relationship in all fields including the elderly. Through exchange of visits between the professors of INIA and the Chinese careers from different provinces and cities, the two sides have set up a strong working relation to share the experience and knowledge on how to deal with the issue of ageing which is one of the biggest challenges facing the humankind. As the new Chinese Ambassador to Malta, he would do his utmost to further enhance and strengthen the good relations and continue the excellent cooperation between China and Malta in the field of ageing.

the Honourable Helen D'Amato Shows the Photoes Taken When Vsiting China to Ambassador Chai

The Honourable Helen D'Amato welcomed Ambassador Chai and assured him her commitment to developing the same, or even stronger, cooperative relations with China in the field of the elderly. She said, it is very important that we could share with each other the knowledge and experiences when we are both facing the challenges of demographic shift. The ageing population is indeed of great social, cultural and economic significance. To deal with the issue, we need the global attention and cooperation and it is happy to see, that a small island country, Malta could play a role in this field and through INIA, do contrite herself to the world. That is why she is so happy to see the trainee of INIA in China during her first visit to China last September. The Trainee of INIA now has become a bridge of understanding, of friendship between our two countries so it is why she would like to welcome the next group of trainees from BCAB in the coming June.