Beijing, 20 April 2023 (TDI): Yesterday, Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang during his state visit to China. The purpose of the visit was to reaffirm their commitment to be good partners and foster new growth initiatives that could benefit both sides.
Li said that Gabon is a very good friend of China in Africa, adding that, China-Gabon relations have been strengthened on a fast track under the leadership of both countries’ leaders.
To further strengthen their bilateral ties to a higher level, China is willing to get involved in multiple development strategies and developmental experiences, therefore, exploring new areas of cooperation and innovative cooperation models.
During the visit, Li advocated the deepening of communication, cooperation and comprehensive partnership between countries by working on different areas such as trade, investment, infrastructure, agriculture, tourism and people-to-people exchanges.
Also, he reiterated the importance of promoting green cooperation as well as forging a paradigm of South-South cooperation to combat climate change.
Moreover, Li emphasized that China supports Gabon to play its big role in regional as well as international affairs. Also, China would like to further strengthen coordination with Gabon to uphold multilateralism, international justice, fairness and the interests of developing countries.
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Appreciating China’s support for Gabon, Bongo noted that the Chinese and Gabonese people treat each other with sincerity and trust, therefore, both counties enjoy a high-quality cooperative relationship.
Then he went on to state that China’s development model is a significant inspiration for Gabon.
Having that said, he showed a willingness to promote cooperation with China on the Belt and Road Initiative, implementation of the Global development initiative as well as the Global Security Initiative under the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and international organizations.
He believed that by working jointly with China, they can better respond to climate change, oppose politicizing human rights issues and fight other global challenges.
