China, Nigeria to deepen cooperation in key areas
Print Edition
PREMIER Li Keqiang pledged “no strings” support for Africa’s development when he addressed the World Economic Forum on Africa yesterday, saying the world’s second-largest economy would not meddle in the continent’s internal affairs.
“All China’s support for Africa will come with no political strings attached,” Li told delegates in the Nigerian capital Abuja. “We will not interfere with Africa’s internal affairs or ask something impossible of Africa.”
China will earmark more than half of its foreign aid for Africa, Li said. “China will, as always, continue to increase its assistance to Africa in both quantity and quality to the extent of its ability, ensuring that more than half of its foreign aid will go to Africa.”
The premier said China would help Africa develop high-speed railway, expressway and aviation networks, and continue to prioritize infrastructure development.
Li also said China enjoyed a solid foundation of sustained economic growth despite a slowdown compared with past performance.
“We have the confidence and capability to meet the expected growth target of around 7.5 percent for this year,” he said.
Nigeria was the second leg of Li’s four-nation Africa tour after Ethiopia. He traveled to Luanda yesterday where he will meet Angola’s President Jose Eduardo dos Santos and hold a seminar with Chinese companies and overseas Chinese before visiting Kenya.
A joint statement issued in the Nigerian capital said China and Nigeria had agreed to deepen cooperation in key areas and both sides would encourage their own companies to expand cooperation in infrastructure, in particular in railways, power plants and airports.
Both countries reaffirmed their commitment to promoting bilateral trade and addressing the trade imbalance.
Both agreed the economic cooperation zones established by Chinese enterprises had achieved progress. China would continue to encourage enterprises to invest, while Nigeria would fulfill its commitment to provide preferential treatment and offer support facilities to the zones.
On financial cooperation, both sides reaffirmed support for financial institutions to cooperate in lending to small and medium-sized enterprises in Nigeria, it said.
Both agreed their central banks would promote local currency settlement to facilitate bilateral trade and investment.
There were also agreements on agriculture, to help Nigeria reduce poverty and enhance food security, and on space and aviation cooperation.
Both sides considered the signing of a bilateral air services agreement an opportunity to deepen cooperation in aviation.
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