Chinese State Councillor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Wang Yi is in Nigeria on a two-day working visit.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Spokesman, Ferdinand Nwonye, who confirmed Mr. Yi will be in Abuja between on Monday and today, said the visitor’s delegation includes a number of high-ranking Chinese government officials.
He said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, will receive his “Chinese counterpart in audience and they will discuss a number of issues relating to strengthening Nigeria/China relations, and the promotion of common interests in the multilateral fora”.
“It is expected that the Ministers of Transportation, Trade and Investment, Health and Defence, to mention a few, will participate in the bilateral discussions,” Nwonye added.
He said the ministers will hold a joint news conference, adding that Onyeama will accompany his Chinese counterpart to pay a courtesy visit on President Muhammadu Buhari.
The visit is part of a wider China Foreign Minister official visit to other African countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Botswana and Seychelles from January 4 to January 9.
The visit to African countries at the start of the year is a tradition that dates back to January 1991 and is aimed at cementing ties between African countries and China. Wang’s trip is a striking example of a relationship built through constancy.
The Chinese minister said: “First of all, this is based on the special feelings of friendship from generation to generation and sharing weal and woe between China and Africa. China-Africa friendship has a long history. Especially in modern times, the two sides fought together for national independence and liberation, shared weal and woe, supported each other, formed a brotherly friendship, and became each other’s’ trusted good friend.
“In the period of development and construction, we joined together again and made progress hand in hand, and became good partners for mutual benefit and win-win progress. For decades, no matter how the international have changed, the friendship between China and Africa has become even stronger, and the torch has been handed down on and on. Our relations have stood up to the test, eliminated the disturbance, and become a model for international relations and South-South cooperation.
“China is the largest developing country, and Africa is the continent where developing countries are most concentrated. We are natural partners, complementary to each other’s advantages, and have unlimited cooperation space and potential.
“In recent years, we have achieved results such as the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the consensus of building a community with a shared future, the co-construction of “Belt and Road Initiative” and China-Africa pilot projects for production capacity cooperation, and so on. All of which have brought groundbreaking influence in the history of China-Africa relations, and helped push China-Africa cooperation into a new era.”
