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Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Zhou Pingjian has said that the growing bilateral relations between his country and Nigeria offer new opportunities for the growth and development of both countries.
The envoy said this while delivering his remarks during the reception for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China held in Abuja on Thursday evening.
Ambassador Pingjian noted that since the establishment of diplomatic ties between both countries in 1971 and strategic partnership in 2005 in particular, the all-round, wide-ranging and high-quality bilateral cooperation between China and Nigeria has been a pace-setter for China-Africa cooperation.
“In recent years, thanks to the strategic guidance and personal commitment of President Xi and President Buhari, China and Nigeria have significantly enhanced political trust and secured fruitful outcomes in practical cooperation.
China-Nigeria relations are at their best time in history and face new opportunities of growth,” he said.
The envoy reiterated China’s support to Nigeria in pursuing a development path that suits Nigeria’s national conditions especially with the shared dreams of both countries under the Belt and Roads Initiative, a component part of the Forum for China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which seeks to collaborate with Nigeria’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).
“We have every confidence that under the able leadership of President Buhari, Nigeria will achieve even greater success in its national development. We stand ready to work with Nigeria to enhance mutual trust, jointly pursue Belt and Road cooperation in greater synergy with Nigeria’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), effectively implement the outcomes of FOCAC Beijing Summit, and elevate the strategic partnership between China and Nigeria to a new level,” Pingjian said.
He noted that since the founding of the People’s Republic of China on October 1st, 1949, the Chinese people have brought enormous changes to the country, creating an unprecedented miracle of development in world history.
“Once labeled as the “Sick Man of East Asia”, life expectancy at the beginning of the new republic was around 35 years. It rose to 77 years in 2018. The illiteracy rate in China stood at 80% in 1949, today the newly-added labor force has received over 13.3 years of education on average. The average years of schooling for the Chinese rose to 10.6 years in 2018 from 1.6 years in 1949,” he said.
He stressed that China is now the only country that has developed all the industrial categories of the UN’s industrial classification, adding that as the world’s largest industrial producer, China ranks the first in the output of 220 products.
“Over the past 70 years, China’s GDP has averaged an annual growth rate of around 4.4% for the first three decades and 9.5% for the last four decades, lifting more than 700 million people out of poverty since 1978. By 2020, all rural residents living below the current poverty line will be taken out of poverty,” he said.
In his remarks, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Zubairu Dada, said economic relations between Nigeria and China from the point of view of Foreign Policy, have been strategic in promoting economic and social agenda of the Federal Government through the attraction of Foreign Direct Investments, skills and technology for wealth and job creation.
He added that as Nigeria joined the Belt_and Road Initiative by signing the MoU on the one belt and one Road framework, it is hoped that bilateral trade cooperation between China and Nigeria will reach greater heights.
“Nigeria deeply appreciates the growing level of cooperation and technical assistance provided by China in several sectors of the economy both at the bilateral level and through the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
“Nigeria also commends the People’s Republic of China for its participation in the Federal government’s economic recovery and growth plan (ERGP) through its infrastructural projects in the country,” the minister said.
