– Buhari would be travelling to China in mid-April
– The state visit is expected to strengthen diplomatic relations between both countries
– China Ambassador to Nigeria, Gu Xiaojie said the China-Nigeria friendship has stood the test of time
President Muhammadu Buhari would soon be embarking on another foreign trip to China to strengthen diplomatic relations between both countries.
The state visit which will be from April 11 to 15, is at the invitation of the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, This Day reports.
The China Ambassador to Nigeria, Gu Xiaojie in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, April 5, said it would be Buhari’s first visit to China since he was sworn in as president on May 29, 2015.
According to him Nigeria’s president would be the first African Head of State to visit China after the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Johannesburg Summit, which is of great importance to both China-Nigeria and China-Africa relations.
The statement read: “ Distance cannot separate true friends who feel so close even when they are thousands of miles apart. The China-Nigeria friendship has stood the test of time and became stronger and more vigorous despite the vast oceans between the two countries.
“On February 10, 1971, China and Nigeria established diplomatic relationship, and ever since then, the bilateral relations have been developing smoothly and steadily .”
The ambassador said there has been frequent high-level exchanges between Nigeria and China in recent years and the political mutual trust has been enhanced continuously.
He noted that Chinese President, Xi Jinping met with Nigerian president twice last year and they exchanged views on bilateral relations and issues of common concern.
Xiaojie said they both reached wide-ranging agreements and charted the direction of future development of China-Nigeria relations.
“ Economically, the cooperation between China and Nigeria in various areas such as infrastructure, energy, trade and finance, has scored impressive achievements. Nigeria is the first African country to accept Chinese RMB in its foreign reserve ,” he added.
Xiaojie stated that Nigeria remains China’s No.1 engineering contract market, No.2 export market, No.3 trading partner, and major investment destination in Africa, adding that China has invested a total of over $2.5 billion in Nigeria.
President Buhari has visited over 15 countries since he was sworn in as president and he has been strongly criticised for it. He just returned from the United States of America two days ago, where he attended the 4th Nuclear Security Summit .