By Henry Umoru & Joseph Erunke

DEPUTY Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, has appealed to the Chinese Government to assist Nigeria to get out of its current economic recession.

He also appealed to the Chinese Government to transfer its technology to Africa just as he sought the assistance of China in the area of direct foreign investment, saying such were needed to take the continent to the next level of development.

Ekweremadu, however, warned Chinese nationals against illegal mining in the solid minerals sector in Africa, asking those already neck-deep in the activities  to desist forthwith.

The Senator, who spoke in Abuja, yesterday, when he played host to a delegation of the Chinese-African People’s Friendship Association, CAPFA, led by its President and former Vice Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Abulaiti Abudurexiti, said China could play significant friendly roles in getting Nigeria out of its current economic woes, having also passed through difficult times in their match to economic prosperity.

He said: “We will like to seek China’s support to Nigeria’s economy particularly and the rest of Africa, especially now that we have found ourselves in recession. We expect that China will support our initiatives aimed at getting out of the recession as quickly as possible. We also expect to see the transfer of technology from China to Africa and  more of direct investment in Africa”.

He lauded the economic policies of China on Africa, saying it had significantly helped to improve air, rail and road transport systems on the continent and appealed to Chinese authorities not to rest on their oars.