China, DRC vow to deepen cooperation

President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) meets with Shen Yueyue, Chinese President Xi Jinping's special envoy, also the vice chairperson of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jan. 21, 2024. At the invitation of President of the DRC Felix Tshisekedi, Shen attended the inauguration of President Tshisekedi in DRC's capital Kinshasa on Jan. 20. (DR Congo's presidency/Handout via Xinhua)

KINSHASA, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) met with Shen Yueyue, Chinese President Xi Jinping's special envoy, here on Sunday after Shen attended Tshisekedi's inauguration one day ago.

Shen, also the vice chairperson of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, conveyed Xi's cordial greetings and good wishes to Tshisekedi, saying that China attaches great importance to the development of China-DRC relations.

China is willing to jointly implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, firmly support each other's core interests, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, and promote the development of people-to-people friendship, Shen said.

China is ready to deepen exchanges and cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, aiming to build a stronger and more dynamic comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership with the DRC, Shen said.

For his part, Tshisekedi sincerely thanked Xi for sending a special envoy to attend his inauguration ceremony and asked Shen to convey his sincere greetings and best wishes to his Chinese counterpart.

Tshisekedi spoke highly of the progress made in the cooperation package of "resource for projects" between the DRC and China, emphasizing that the DRC highly values the traditional friendship between the two countries.

The DRC firmly adheres to the one-China principle and is ready to deepen cooperation with China in key areas such as mining, so as to push bilateral relations to a higher level, he added.