Premier Li Keqiang met with Angolan President Joao Lourenco, who is on a state visit to China, on Oct 9 in Beijing.

Premier Li said China and Angola enjoy a profound traditional friendship and are each other’s important partners, thus they are taking the lead in the development of relations between China and many African countries.

President Xi Jinping held a fruitful meeting with Lourenco, during which they made plans for the development of bilateral ties, Premier Li said, and China will continue to consolidate mutual political trust with Angola and promote cooperation in various areas, to achieve mutually beneficial results and development.

Premier Li said there is great potential for pragmatic cooperation between China and Angola. In the next phase, the two sides should strengthen dovetailing development strategies, implement the work from the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), make innovations in cooperation models, accelerate negotiations on investment protection agreements, promote cooperation in key areas such as industries, trade and infrastructure construction, and give a greater role to private enterprises, in order to upgrade China-Angola cooperation and benefit the people of the two countries.

The Chinese side encourages Chinese enterprises to invest in Angola under local laws and regulations, said the Premier, who added he hopes that Angola will provide convenience to their business operations and roll out more measures to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens.

Lourenco said visiting China after FOCAC shows the importance of China-Angola relations. The two countries share a friendship and work together for mutual benefit, exemplifying the cooperation between China and African countries, he said.

The Angolan side praises the work achieved in the Beijing summit, hoping the two sides will enhance cooperation in building hydropower stations, power grid, highway, railway and other fields in infrastructure construction. Angola will provide Chinese enterprises with a sound business environment, Lourenco said.

State Councilor Wang Yi also attended the meeting.