China is apparently keen to intensify cooperation with Malta in the areas of shipping and port and logistics services.
This was announced by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. Beijing apparently wants to make greater use of the island state’s strategic location in the central Mediterranean.
At a meeting on economic and trade cooperation in Beijing, the ministry also told Maltese representatives that it was prepared to intensify “strategic coordination” with the country. Malta is one of the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) and joined on May 1, 2004, after the official application for membership was submitted in 1990 and negotiations began in 2000. The country has been part of the Schengen area since 2007 and the eurozone since 2008, with the euro as its currency. As a parliamentary democracy with the capital Valletta, around 574,000 inhabitants and an area of 316 km², Malta is the smallest EU state with Maltese and English as official languages; it sends six representatives to the European Parliament.
China and Malta have maintained close contacts since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1972. As a partner of an important investor country, Valletta is keen to promote China’s relations with the EU, including access to the extensive European single market.
As part of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative to expand global trade routes to China, Chinese state and private companies have invested in Malta’s infrastructure. This also includes a stake in the Malta Freeport Terminals, a major transshipment port in the Mediterranean, which is held by state-owned shipping and logistics group China Merchants Port Holdings.
In 2024, Malta was one of the five EU states that voted against the introduction of tariffs on electric vehicles manufactured in China.
