By Vera Sam Anyagafu

Following the recently concluded Forum on China and Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit in Beijing, President Muhammadu Buhari and President, Xi Jinping, were reportedly said to have reached a broad consensus for new opportunities that will further enhance China-Nigeria strategic partnership, even as both countries witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by their foreign ministers.

This was disclosed by the Chinese Consul General in Lagos, Ambassador, Chao Xiaoliang, who also noted that the new opportunities are expected to attract multiple benefits for the government and people of Nigeria, as the opportunities will translate into closer connection in policy, finance, trade, infrastructure, and people-to-people ties.

Xiaoliang said that, Nigeria and China have reached a broad consensus to bind themselves to the Belt and Road Initiative, which essentially seeks to extensively build up stronger cooperation and ensure shared gains between the two countries.

“China and African countries are destined to be good friends, good brothers and good partners. China-Africa relations have demonstrated unprecedented solidarity, vitality and creativity, which offer significant opportunities to both sides.

“ This also applies to China Nigeria relations, as China together with Nigeria and other African countries are ready to join hands to build a China-Africa community with a shared future that features joint responsibility, win-win cooperation, happiness for all, as well as a common cultural prosperity, common security, and harmonious co-existence”, Xiaoliang stated.

Going forward, he said that, Nigeria and China have gained fruitful achievements from friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation in all fields, and both countries have corresponding development strategy, strong economic complementation and enormous cooperative potential.

“Deepening China-Nigeria friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation is in line with the fundamental and long-term interests of the two countries and their citizens. Our partnership will generate more resources for everyone, expand markets and create space for African development and broaden its economic prospects, even as we get set to welcome participants in China’s first-ever International Import-Export Expo November, 2018 in Shanghai,

“And to build an even closer China-African community with a shared future in the new era, President Xi Jinping has announced that China will, on the basis of the ten cooperation plans already adopted, launch eight major initiatives in close collaboration with African countries in the next three years and beyond”, Xiaoliang added, while listing the eight initiatives as Industrial promotion, infrastructure connectivity, trade facilitation, green development, capacity building, and health care, in addition to people-to-people, peace and security.