The Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Samoa and seven other Pacific Island nations as part of a 10-day regional visit starting this Thursday.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman announced the regional tour in Beijing on Tuesday, reports Reuters, with the visit to start on Thursday 26 May and conclude 4 June.

The eight Pacific Island nations on the itinerary include Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Timor Leste, Reuters quoted the spokesman Wang Wenbin as saying, during a regular press briefing on Tuesday.

Questions sent to the Chinese Embassy on Tuesday morning by the Samoa Observer, seeking confirmation of the visit of their Foreign Minister, were not responded to at the time of going to press.

This newspaper has been unable to ascertain whether the 26 May to 4 June visit by the Chinese Foreign Minister to the region will coincide with Samoa's 60th Independence Anniversary celebration. Official celebrations start next Wednesday 1 June.

The announcement of the Chinese Foreign Minister's visit to Samoa and the other Pacific states comes on the back of the election of a new Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who to flew to Tokyo, Japan on Monday for high level security talks with members of the quadrilateral security dialogue (Quad) comprising the U.S., Japan and India.

Mr Albanese, who flew to Tokyo on Monday immediately after his swearing-in as Prime Minister, met with U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Quad talks on Tuesday.

Security experts believe the Quad was established to curb the rising power of China in the Indo-Pacific region.

Australia's new Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Penny Wong, on Monday released a 2-minute video on her  Twitter account targeting Pacific Island nations to assure them of the new Australian government's support.

She said she looked forward to visiting the region soon as the region faced "unprecedented challenges" and Australia is keen to work with the Pacific Island nations to tackle those challenges.

"We will face these challenges together, and we will achieve our shared aspirations together, we want to help build a stronger Pacific family," Ms Wong said in her video.

"That is why we [Australia] will do more, but we will also do it better, we will listen because we care what the Pacific has to say.

"The Australian government knows that nothing is more central to the security and wellbeing of the Pacific than climate change – we've heard the Pacific and we will act, standing shoulder to shoulder with you as we address the climate crisis."

Further assistance for the region's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is also on the cards, with Australia's new Foreign Affairs Minister assuring of a "boost", together with the "deepening of defence and maritime cooperation".

The new Australian government also plans to "expand opportunities" under the current seasonal worker program.

"We will work with Pacific family to expand opportunities for Pacific workers in Australia and improve their working conditions.

"Currently, over 24,000 Pacific workers are here [Australia] contributing to vital Australian industries and sending money home to support their families and scanning skills they can use when they return."

In a first for an Australian government, Ms Wong revealed that they will incorporate the voice of Australia's indigenous people into their diplomacy.

"We will also deliver a First Nations foreign policy, that weaves the voices and practices of Australia's indigenous peoples into our diplomacy and strengthens connections between First Nations peoples and the Blue Pacific."