Nigeria, China strategic partnership key to Africa’s development – Shettima

Vice President Kashim Shettima says Nigeria’s strategic partnership with China needs to be scaled up because it remains key to Africa’s development.

He stated this when he was hosted by his People’s Republic of China counterpart, Vice President Han Zheng, at the Diaoyutai State Guest House, Beijing, at the ongoing Belt and Road Initiative Forum.

The Vice President, in a statement on Tuesday by his spokesman, Mr Stanley Nkwocha, said since assumption of office, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had strategically tinkered with the country’s foreign policy to drive and boost investors’ confidence.

He said President Tinubu had walked the talk by creating levellers for the ease of doing business in Nigeria.

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Shettima, who is representing President Tinubu at the forum in Beijing, expressed profound gratitude for the warm reception accorded his delegation by the host country.

He noted that Nigeria and China, having celebrated 50 years of diplomatic relations in 2021, must now take their destinies into their own hands.

“Our mutually beneficial relationship will be further enhanced and upgraded to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

“Nigeria is China’s second-largest trading partner in Africa; it is the largest economy in Africa and the most populous country in the African continent.

“The Belt and Road Initiative is a big beautiful concept that can be deployed to achieve this,” Shettima said.

The vice president, who drew attention to the burgeoning relationship between Nigeria and China, stated that both countries stood to gain mutually from their friendship.

On his part, vice president Zheng assured his Nigerian counterpart of continued partnership with Nigeria.

He said that President Jinping’s meeting with Shettima would enhance political mutual trust, advance practical cooperation and better develop the bilateral relation between the two countries.

Shettima was later a guest at the State Banquet, hosted by President Jinping and his wife, Madame Peng Liyuan.

In the meantime, attention would shift to the opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Initiative Forum at the Great Hall in Beijing, billed for today.

Shettima is expected to proceed to the National Convention Centre to deliver his paper entitled, “Digital Economy as a New Source of Growth”.