Interview: China, Nigeria jointly building high-level community with shared future: Chinese envoy

ABUJA, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- China and Nigeria are certain to deepen cooperation in such areas as industry, agriculture, and infrastructure while jointly building a high-level community with a shared future, Yu Dunhai, Chinese ambassador to the Western African country, has said.

In a recent interview with Xinhua here in the Nigerian capital, Yu noted that with joint efforts, Nigeria has become China's largest market for project contracting, second-largest export market, third-largest trading partner, and a major investment destination in Africa. As the most populous African country and a major economy, Nigeria plays an important role in regional and international affairs.

"China shares a long-standing friendship with Nigeria. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties on Feb. 10, 1971, our relations have stood the test of changes in the international landscape and gone from strength to strength. Furthermore, over the years, China-Nigeria relations have stood at the forefront of China-Africa relations," Yu said.

In Lagos, the economic center of Nigeria, due to the large population and lack of transportation infrastructure, urban traffic congestion was serious. With the commencement in September 2023 of the commercial operation of the first phase of the Blue Line -- a light rail project undertaken by a Chinese construction firm, traffic conditions along the line have improved.

Over the years, Chinese companies have constructed many signature projects in Nigeria, including the Lekki Deep Sea Port, the Abuja Metro Line, and the Abuja-Kaduna railway.

These projects are "the fruitful results of China-Nigeria practical cooperation and the friendship between our two peoples," Yu said, emphasizing that the practical cooperation between China and Nigeria is exemplary "high-quality Belt and Road cooperation between China and Africa."

He said that in the field of people-to-people exchanges, the two countries have seen cultural centers established in their capital cities and two Confucius Institutes co-founded in Nigeria by Chinese and Nigerian universities, as the enthusiasm for learning the Chinese language keeps growing among the Nigerian people. The number of Nigerian students learning in China has recently exceeded 7,500.

Over the years, the two countries have known each other better due to closer communications, with a growing number of Nigerian citizens doing business in China, he added.

"We have co-hosted with the Nigerian side a series of cultural events such as the 'Happy Chinese New Year' Temple Fair, the Chinese Film Festival, and the 'Chinese Bridge' -- a Chinese proficiency competition, which has largely brought our hearts closer to each other," Yu said.

The Chinese envoy said that the forthcoming Beijing summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation will be held as both countries pursue national development.

"I believe that in the vast ocean of historical trends, the ship of friendship and cooperation between China and Nigeria will sail forward in a steady and sustained way," he added.