Ernest Bai Koroma, President of Sierra Leone, on Saturday applauded good relationship between the west African country and China when meeting visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, saying Sierra Leone would like to help enhance cooperation between Africa and China.

Koroma said bilateral relations between the two countries have been promoted continuously since the establishment of diplomatic relations 38 years ago.

He thanked China for providing selfless assistance which contributed to the economic and social development in the country.

Koroma reiterated that Sierra Leone firmly adheres to the one- China policy and supports China's stands in terms of issues related to Xinjiang and Tibet regions of the east Asian country.

Sierra Leone and China cooperated closely on some international issues including climate change and the global financial crisis, the President said, adding that Sierra Leone appreciates the role which China plays in the international arena and would like to strength coordination with China on multilateral issues of common interests to promote the democratization of international relations.

Koroma highly praised China's implementation of her commitments made during the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in late 2006, saying Sierra Leone would like to help enhance Africa-China cooperation for mutual benefit.

During the meeting, Yang said China and Sierra Leone enjoyed an old friendship, solid relationship and fruitful bilateral cooperation.

In recent years, relations between the two countries have been developing rapidly with frequent exchanges of visits of personnel at all levels and steady progress in economic and other fields, the Chinese Foreign Minister said, applauding that China and Sierra Leone communicate and coordinate with each other constantly on important international and regional issues.

Yang, who arrived in Freetown earlier on Saturday after visiting Kenya and Nigeria, said China attaches importance to the relationship with Sierra Leone and would like to work with the west African country to strengthen traditional friendship, enhance political mutual trust, take real action to carry out cooperation projects, further cooperation on multilateral issues, and promote bilateral relationship to new stage.

The top Chinese diplomat said China will work with member states of FOCAC including Sierra Leone to implement the outcomes of the Fourth Ministerial Conference of FOCAC, which was held in Egypt last year, in a concrete way, and further strengthen the New China-Africa Strategic Relationship.

Yang on Saturday also had a talk with his counterpart in Sierra Leone, Zainab Hawa Bangura, before attending a handover ceremony of a China-donated village school and meeting the local media.