On August 4, Ambassador Kong Xianhua met with Bank of Maldives CEO Mohamed Shareef.

Ambassador Kong stated that China-Maldives relations are currently friendly, with a large number of Chinese tourists visiting Maldives and consumer demand surging. Accelerating the opening of RMB accounts and promoting bilateral local currency settlement will benefit the development of Maldives' tourism and commerce. He emphasized that the Embassy is committed to fully supporting win-win financial cooperation between the two countries.

Shareef expressed his gratitude to Ambassador Kong for his long-term attention to bilateral financial cooperation. He stated that the bank is currently collaborating with Chinese banks on opening RMB accounts and issuing UnionPay bank cards, and expressed confidence that these efforts will yield results soon. He expressed his willingness to strengthen cooperation with China in areas such as local currency settlement and online payments.