Chinese Minister To Visit Nigeria
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is embarking on a diplomatic tour of Africa, visiting Namibia, the Republic of the Congo, Chad, and Nigeria from January 5 to 11.
This trip is significant, as it marks the 35th consecutive year that China’s foreign minister has chosen Africa as the destination for their first overseas trip of the year.
Wang Yi’s visit is at the invitation of these countries, and it reinforces China’s long-standing tradition of strengthening Sino-African relations.
According to Mao Ning, spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, this journey highlights the importance of maintaining strong ties with African nations.
Chinese President Xi Jinping made some proposals at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation last year.
He suggested upgrading bilateral relations between China and African countries with diplomatic ties to strategic relations, and elevating China-Africa relations to an “all-weather community with a shared future” for the new era.
This vision is built on advancing modernization in six key areas and implementing 10 partnership actions, which aim to strengthen cooperation in areas like trade, industrialization, infrastructure development, and people-to-people exchanges.
These actions include initiatives like building a platform for governance experience sharing, a China-Africa knowledge network, and 25 centers for China and Africa studies.
The African side responded positively to these proposals, according to Mao’s statement at a press conference on Friday.
