China will cooperate with African countries to help bring to
fruition their plan of developing new partnerships.
Visiting President Jiang Zemin yesterday reiterated China's set
policy of developing sound relations with African countries in his
meeting with Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The plan, formulated in the last summit meeting of the Organization of African Unity
(OAU), aims to promote the common development of the African
countries, including strategies to attract foreign investment and
develop economic cooperation with other countries.
Jiang expressed his strong approval of the strategy, saying it is
an important step in promoting peace and prosperity in Africa.
Obasanjo expressed his thanks for China's support, noting that
Nigeria is willing to further cooperation with China.
On
bilateral relations, both leaders expressed satisfaction over the
economic and trade cooperation between the two sides.
Jiang said that Nigeria has become one of China's most important
economic and trade partners in Africa and Chinese enterprises also
show strong interest in mutually beneficial cooperative
undertakings with Nigeria.
According to official statistics, two-way trade volume between the
two countries exceeded US$1.1 billion in 2001, setting a new
record.
The two sides are actively exploring cooperation in energy, water
conservancy, telecommunications and other fields. The Chinese
government encourages and supports Chinese enterprises and
companies in their investments in Nigeria.
Jiang yesterday also said that the Chinese government has decided
to provide Nigeria with aid to support some joint projects the two
sides might undertake.
Obasanjo suggested using Chinese aid to improve the medical
facilities for Nigerian children.
Obasanjo said that the two countries complement each other in
economic development and share bright prospects, especially in the
fields of agriculture, telecommunications and mining.
In
addition to economic cooperation, Jiang also pointed out that there
is great potential for cooperation between the two countries in all
fields.
He
expressed appreciation and thanks to the Nigerian government for
its support of China's human rights policies.
Jiang said that China and Nigeria, two of the world's populous
developing countries, share extensive interests in safeguarding
developing countries' rights and should further enhance their
bilateral cooperation in order to advance common prosperity around
the world.
(China
Daily April 16, 2002)