FOCAC 2024: Upgrading Nigeria-China Relations
By Lawal Sale
As the 9th Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing came to an end on September 6, there is no gainsaying the fact that the Summit has provided veritable opportunities for Nigeria and China to open up new vistas in their 53-year-old bilateral relations.
Nigeria is the largest engineering contracting partner, the second largest exporting market, the third largest trading partner and important investment destination for China.
Economic experts have, therefore, viewed President Bola Tinubu’s visit to China for the Summit as worthwhile, as it would particularly consolidate the past achievements recorded in China-Nigeria relations and further deepen the bilateral dealings, particularly in the economic sphere.
During a discussion with the media, think tanks and global affairs experts on the outcomes of the summit in Abuja, the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Amb. Yu Dunhai, said that China attached great importance to President Tinubu’s visit to China and, therefore, made special arrangements to welcome him.
At the event, President Tinubu was one of the very few African leaders whose visits were classified as state visits, an action that aptly reflects China’s high respect for the Nigerian leader and his country.
According to Amb. Yu, the Chinese and Nigerian heads of state held bilateral talks and witnessed the signing of cooperation documents. Chinese Premier Li Qiang also met with President Tinubu and hosted him at a state banquet.
One of the significant aspects of the two leaders’ interactions was the consensus to upgrade China-Nigeria relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The Chinese envoy explained that the upgrade represented a remarkable boost in China-Nigeria relations after the establishment of the Strategic Partnership in 2005.
At the meeting, President Xi spoke highly of Nigeria’s status as a major country in the world and applauded the excellent relations existing between China and Nigeria, saying that the two countries had mutual respect for each other as equals, while seeking strength through unity and pursuing win-win cooperation.
Amb. Yu said that the two Heads of State issued a joint statement on establishing the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and building a high-level China-Nigeria community with a shared future, which focused on four aspects.
The four aspects are high-level strategic mutual trust, high-level development cooperation, high-level security mutual assistance and high-level mutual understanding.
Besides, Nigeria and China reinforced their determination to facilitate synergies between the high-quality Belt and Road Initiative and FOCAC summit outcomes with Nigeria’s Renewed Hope Agenda and its Eight Priority Areas, while jointly promoting high-quality practical cooperation in an all-round manner.
Nigeria, on the other hand, applauded and supported the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the Global Development Initiative (GDI), the Global Security Initiative (GSI) and the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI); proposed by China. Both sides pledged to support each other’s efforts in international affairs, including the United Nations, the G20 and BRICS.
It is heartwarming to note that during President Tinubu’s visit, a number of relevant cooperation agreements between government departments of the two countries were signed. In all, 13 cooperation documents, covering different areas, were approved.
The areas include Belt and Road Initiative planning processes, implementation of the Global Development Initiative, economic growth, human resources development, applications of Beidu Satellite Navigation System, export of peanuts to China and media exchanges.
In particular, one cooperation document covers around 19 projects which China and Nigeria are executing or planning to implement. Amb. Yu, who witnessed the signing of the agreements in Beijing, said that multiple cooperation agreements were also signed between relevant government departments, state governments and Chinese companies during the visit of President Tinubu and Nigerian delegation.
The Chinese envoy expatiated that these agreements aptly epitomized the fruitful outcomes of President Tinubu’s visit and reflected the thriving cooperation between the two nations as well as the bright prospects of the cooperation.
It is pertinent to note that China welcomed the expansion of bilateral trade and supported the import of more quality products from Nigeria into its market. On the other hand, Nigeria expressed its willingness to strengthen its partnership with China, particularly in the development of energy, mineral resources, while working with Chinese companies to set up plants in Nigeria to meet local consumption and export needs.
Similarly, the two countries will jointly explore cooperation in areas such as digital economy, green development, blue economy, and agricultural modernisation, while fostering new growth drivers in bilateral cooperation.
The two sides agreed to deepen cooperation in infrastructure development. China has been actively supporting Nigeria in developing its domestic infrastructure facilities, including transportation, ports and free trade zones; all aimed at fast-tracking integrated industrial development.
Furthermore, the two sides encouraged flexible and diverse regional monetary and financial cooperation such as local currency swaps, so as to facilitate increased trade between China and Nigeria and make contributions to global financial stability.
The two countries agreed to carry out international cooperation in financial intelligence on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT). The two countries will strengthen the coordination of development strategies and open up a new prospect for pragmatic cooperation, featuring complimentary advantages and mutual benefits.
The Chinese ambassador emphasized that under the overall coordination of the China-Nigeria Intergovernmental Committee, the two countries would carry out more and deeper cooperation to engender Nigeria’s socio-economic development, while ensuring that the cooperation continued to be beneficial to the citizens of the two nations in a pragmatic way.
On the implementation framework. Yu said: “Going forward, we will work closely with all sectors of Nigeria to implement the important consensus reached by our two Heads of State and ensure that we translate the important consensus into concrete actions, in order to push forward the upgrading of bilateral cooperation and bring more benefits to our people.”
In a comment, Charles Onunaiju, Director of Centre of China Studies, said that the implementation of the new policy thrusts would not be problematic, particularly now when an office, saddled with the duty of policy coordination, had been established within the Presidency.
Succinctly, global affairs experts described the bilateral meetings and cooperation documents signed in Beijing a huge success for both countries while maintaining that implementation mechanisms should be put in place by the policy makers to ensure that the two sides are guided by commitment, dedication and sincerity of purpose. Nigeria needs China, and China needs Nigeria.
— Sale is an Abuja-based Global Affairs Analyst ([email protected])
