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By Aidoghie Paulinus
From December 8 to 10, ths Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Yu Dunhai, paid an official visit to Lagos State and met with the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
During the visit, Yu held talks with representatives of the Chinese community within the consular jurisdiction of the Chinese Consulate-General in Lagos and visited the Confucius Institute at the University of Lagos, the Lekki Deep Sea Port and the Lekki Free Zone.
The Ambassador was accompanied by Ms. Yan Yuqing, Chinese Consul-General in Lagos, and Mr. Wang Yingqi, Minister-Counselor for Economic and Commercial Affairs of the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria.
Yu said that Lagos, as Nigeria’s economic, financial and commercial center, is cooperating closely with China.
He recalled that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently paid a state visit to China and attended the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), during which the two heads of state announced the upgrading of bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which has opened a new era of China-Nigeria relations.
China, Yu stated, stands ready to work with Nigeria to implement the consensus reached by the two presidents and the FOCAC conference outcomes and to deepen our mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation, in order to elevate our relations to a higher level.
On his part, Sanwo-Olu who warmly welcomed Ambassador Yu, said Lagos is a land of opportunity and innovation.
He also said the cooperation projects such as the Lekki Deep Sea Port and the Lekki Free Zone have contributed to Nigeria’s social and economic development.
Sanwo-Olu said: “We are willing to strengthen our cooperation with China in such fields as infrastructure, science and technology, economy and trade, and people-to-people exchanges. The state will continue to optimize its business environment so as to attract more Chinese enterprises to invest in Nigeria.”
During the visit, Ambassador Yu spoke highly of the contributions made by Chinese enterprises and the Chinese community in Nigeria to China-Nigeria relations.
Ambassador Yu encouraged the Chinese community and Chinese students and enterprises in Nigeria to unite as one and help each other, and work as the promoter of Chinese culture, the facilitator of China-Nigeria cooperation, the inheritor of China-Nigeria friendship, and the contributor to China’s high-quality development.
