The Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Gu Xiaojie, has said that Nigeria is the second biggest market of China’s export to Africa.

The ambassador disclosed this when he paid a courtesy call to the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, in his office, in Abuja, saying Nigeria ranks the third biggest trading partner of China in Africa.

Speaking on the trade volume between the two countries in 2015, he said the trade volume between Nigeria and China stood at $14. 9 billion dollars, adding that though there was a slight drop from the commodity prices in 2014, there was no drop in the trade volume.

He said: “The current trade volume between Nigeria and China was $14.9 billion. It was a bit down with the previous year 2014 but still Nigeria remains the third biggest trading partner of China in Africa and Nigeria is the second biggest market of China’s exports to Africa. Its still very significant.

“I should clarify that the trade volume between China and Nigeria did not go down but against the background of commodity prices it went down a bit but the volumes didn’t go down. Things are improving and will definitely soon pick up.”

He further said the Chinese government is looking at investing in Nigeria’s agriculture, mining and infrastructure sectors, against the backdrop the federal government’s drive to diversify the economy.

Source: Leadership