Nigeria, China’s Bilateral Trade Now $8.6bn

Nigeria and China recorded $8.6bn bilateral trade between January and June 2019.

There had also been an increase in the projects undertaken by China in the country.

The Consul General, Chu Maoming, said this in his speech at the reception to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in Lagos.

He said, “Because of our joint efforts, the practical cooperation in all fields between our two countries has bore rich fruit. The bilateral trade reached $8.6bn from January to June 2019 with 20.7 per cent year-on-year growth.

“China now is still Nigeria’s largest source of imports and second largest trading partner.

“A large number of cooperative projects are vigorously promoted by both sides, such as the Zungeru Hydropower Plant, Mambilla Power Project, Lekki Deep Seaport, Lagos-Calabar coastal railway line, etc.”

With more Nigerian students studying in China under the sponsorship of the Chinese government scholarship, he said China had also set up two Confucius Institutes in Nigeria.

He said he had seen Chinese enterprises and citizens work hard to realise their dreams and help to create jobs and train personnel, which might also help their Nigerian friends to realise their dreams.

“I’ve seen many government officials, business leaders, academics, legal practitioners and innumerable warm-hearted people from Nigeria spare no efforts to help the Chinese people when they need assistance,” he said.

He said the China-Nigeria relationship had set a good example for cooperation between China and other African countries.

Nigeria, he mentioned, was the largest economy and most populous country in Africa, while China was the largest developing country in the world.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1971 and strategic partnership in 2005 in particular between China and Nigeria, he said both countries had maintained a sound momentum of development.

He added that the friendship between the people had deepened, and mutual political trust had been steadily consolidated.