China, Cote d'Ivoire agree to boost trade, export

DAKAR, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Cote d'Ivoire's Minister of State and Minister of Foreign Affairs Kandia Camara have pledged to boost trade and promote agricultural exports to China.

Wang and Camara met in Dakar, the Senegalese capital, on Monday on the sidelines of the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

Wang extended congratulations on Cote d'Ivoire's active response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its efforts to achieve economic growth at medium-high speed.

China-Cote d'Ivoire relations have maintained sound and stable development with smooth progress in practical cooperation, Wang said, noting that China has become Cote d'Ivoire's largest bilateral financing partner and the third largest trading partner.

The cooperation projects on infrastructure and public welfare between the two countries have yielded favorable economic and social benefits, he added.

Wang said Cote d'Ivoire is welcome to make good use of important platforms such as the China International Import Expo, China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo and China Import and Export Fair to further promote cocoa and other products with specialties and advantages to achieve mutual benefits and win-win results.

President Xi Jinping announced that China will open "green lanes" for African agricultural exports to China and set up an earmarked fund for financing imports from Africa, which will further facilitate Cote d'Ivoire's agricultural exports to China, said Wang.

China is ready to work with African countries including Cote d'Ivoire to deliver more tangible outcomes of China-Africa cooperation, he added.

Camara said China is a good partner of Cote d'Ivoire, adding that China has not only provided vaccines and medical supplies in a timely manner to strongly support Cote d'Ivoire's fight against the pandemic, but also made important contributions to Cote d'Ivoire's economic development and the improvement of people's lives.

Cote d'Ivoire looks forward to further expanding economic and trade cooperation with China and welcomes Chinese enterprises to invest in Cote d'Ivoire to help improve its raw material processing capacity, Camara said.

The two sides agreed to make this ministerial meeting a success and inject strong impetus into the mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Africa.