Relations with Angola gaining pace

President Xi Jinping accompanies Angolan President Joao Lourenco at a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday. [Photo by Feng Yongbin/ China Daily]

Xi envisions closer cooperation with African country, entire continent

China firmly supports African countries in their opposition to external interference and their right to select their own development paths, President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday.

Xi made the remark while meeting with Angolan counterpart Joao Lourenco at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Witnessed by the two presidents, the two countries signed a number of cooperation documents.

The recent 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation has injected new impetus into the development of China-Africa and China-Angola relations, and creates new opportunities, Xi said.

Xi called for joint efforts with African nations to implement the outcomes of the summit and push to take measures related to the eight major initiatives emerging from the event as early as possible.

China and Angola should promote the building of the Belt and Road and boost joint development strategies, Xi said, adding that the two countries should enhance cooperation in traditional areas and expand new growth prospects.

With efforts made by the two sides, China and Angola have deepened political mutual trust, expanded common interests and benefited the people of both countries, Xi said.

Xi said that China is confident regarding future cooperation between the two countries.

The two countries should enhance cooperation to speed up the industrialization of Angola and the economic diversification of the African nation, Xi said.

Xi proposed to expand people-to-people communications and local-level exchanges between the two countries.

China and Angola should work together to maintain multilateralism, build up an open global economy and promote a fairer international order, Xi said.

Lourenco said the high-level exchanges between Angola and China demonstrate the great attention paid by the two sides to bilateral relations.

Mentioning that China has made positive efforts to promote the economic and social development of Angola, Lourenco said that Angola expects to enhance cooperation with China in infrastructure construction.

The summit promotes cooperation between China and the African continent, he said, adding that African countries spoke highly of China’s practical measures to cooperate with Africa without imposing any political conditions or meddling in their domestic affairs, he said.

The cooperation framework put forward by China has very positive effects for the development of African countries, he said. Angola supports multilateralism and upholds that the future of the world should be decided by all countries, he added.