The Consul General of the Chinese Consulate in Lagos, Nigeria, Chu Maoming, has called for the building of a stronger China-Africa community with a shared future. The Consul General made this call recently during a reception to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. He stated that the Chinese people are perpetually endeavoring to realize the Chinese dream, while Africa is also working hard on its Agenda 2063 and moving towards the achievement of the grand African Dream in the next 40 years.
According to Ambassador Maoming, “China and Africa are closely connected heart to heart and share similar dreams. During the past years, the friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Africa has constantly achieved remarkable results under the guidance of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). Going forward, we will fully implement the eight major initiatives announced at last year’s FOCAC Beijing Summit and continuously deepen our BRI cooperation.” He reiterated that these two opportunities can help to build an even stronger China-Africa community with a shared future.
According to the Consul General, ‘the China-Nigeria relationship has set a good example of cooperation between China and other African countries. Nigeria is the largest economy and most populous country in Africa, while China is the largest developing country in the world. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1971 and strategic partnership in 2005 in particular between China and Nigeria, our relations have maintained a sound momentum of development, the friendship between our people has deepened, and mutual political trust has been steadily consolidated.”
This year marks one year since Nigeria joined the big family of Belt and Road Initiative, BRI, with the signing of an MoU between the governments of both countries on jointly building the BRI during the FOCAC Beijing Summit last September.
The Consul general maintained that “because of the joint efforts, the practical cooperation in all fields between our two countries has borne rich fruit. The bilateral trade reached $8.68 billion from January to June 2019 with 20.7% percent year-on-year growth. China now is still Nigeria’s largest sources of imports and second-largest trading partner. A large number of cooperative projects are vigorously promoted by both sides, such as the Zungeru Hydropower Plant, Mambilla Power Project, Lekki Deep Seaport, Lagos-Calabar coastal railway line, etc.”
With more and more Nigerian students studying in China under the sponsorship of the Chinese government scholarship, China has also set up two Confucius Institutes in Nigeria. The list could go on and on. We are glad to note that China-Nigeria relations have entered into the best period in history.
