International Desk: During a recent visit to China, Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin shared his views on Ireland–China relations and bilateral cooperation in an exclusive interview with China Media Group (CMG). He reaffirmed that Ireland has consistently adhered to the One-China policy and will continue to do so in the future.

Prime Minister Martin expressed great pleasure at meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2026 and noted that he was honored to be the leader of the first European country to visit China during that period. He stated that the key objectives of his visit included advancing cooperation across political, economic, and social sectors, as well as charting a strategic course for future collaboration with China.

During their meeting, the two leaders held in-depth discussions on bilateral relations, EU–China relations, and ways to address trade-related issues between the European Union and China.

Martin described President Xi Jinping as a leader with strong strategic vision and a clear, principled stance. He highlighted President Xi’s emphasis on restoring the authority of the United Nations in international and global affairs, as well as on reducing conflicts and wars worldwide—an approach Martin noted closely aligns with Ireland’s own foreign policy. He also pointed out that President Xi has made China’s support for multilateralism abundantly clear.

Commenting on China’s 15th Five-Year Plan, Prime Minister Martin said Ireland highly appreciates China’s approach to formulating and implementing long-term national development strategies. In particular, he noted that China’s five-year plans are generally executed with a high degree of precision. Ireland, he said, has identified areas of complementarity between the two countries.

Amid the ongoing global artificial intelligence revolution, Martin emphasized Ireland’s strong interest in exploring how AI technologies can be optimally utilized. China, he noted, has emerged as a global leader in artificial intelligence, while Ireland is a highly digitalized economy. As such, Ireland is keen to strengthen cooperation with China in this field, believing that the two countries can create strong synergies to drive development in the AI sector.

Source: Xueyi-Touhid-Xinya, China Media Group.