Chinese premier meets Sierra Leonean president

Chinese Premier Li Qiang meets with visiting President of the Republic of Sierra Leone Julius Maada Bio at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 28, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

BEIJING, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Wednesday met with visiting President of the Republic of Sierra Leone Julius Maada Bio in Beijing, calling for enhanced cooperation between the two countries.

Li said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties more than 50 years ago, China and Sierra Leone have always respected each other, treated each other as equals and cooperated with each other sincerely, and are good friends, good partners and good brothers who share weal and woe.

He said that in recent years, under the strategic guidance of the heads of state of the two countries, China and Sierra Leone have continuously enhanced political mutual trust, achieved fruitful results in various fields of cooperation, maintained close coordination on international affairs, and set a new example of South-South cooperation.

China stands ready to work with Sierra Leone to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, carry forward the traditional friendship, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, firmly support each other on issues concerning each other's core interests and major concerns, and continue to achieve more win-win outcomes and improve the well-being of the two peoples, the Chinese premier said.

Li pointed out that China is willing to strengthen the alignment of development strategies with Sierra Leone, carry out practical and efficient cooperation, advance the construction of key projects and livelihood projects in an orderly manner, and provide support to the economic and social development of Sierra Leone within its capacity.

China will continue to send agricultural technical experts to help Sierra Leone cultivate quality crops and train technical personnel, strengthen exchanges and the sharing of experience in agricultural policy planning with Sierra Leone, and push for deeper and more solid agricultural cooperation between the two countries, Li said.

Li added that China is willing to import more quality products from Sierra Leone, encourages Chinese enterprises to expand investment in the country, and hopes that Sierra Leone will continue to provide a good business environment for Chinese enterprises.

"China stands ready to further strengthen people-to-people exchanges with Sierra Leone on youth, education, training and medical care to consolidate public support for friendly relations between the two countries," he said.

Bio said Sierra Leone regards China as a trustworthy development partner, and the two countries enjoy a deep traditional friendship and close mutually beneficial cooperation.

He said Sierra Leone abides by the one-China principle and stands ready to provide firm mutual support on safeguarding core interests, deepen cooperation on infrastructure construction, agriculture, economy and trade, education, health and poverty reduction under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, and push the bilateral comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership to a new level.

Sierra Leone is willing to strengthen coordination and cooperation with China on international and regional affairs, and jointly promote world peace and development, he added.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang meets with visiting President of the Republic of Sierra Leone Julius Maada Bio at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 28, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)