Bilateral ties achieve common objectives

Both countries to push ahead with strategic relationship as the pair celebrates 35 years of diplomatic relations, Cao Yingying reports.

China and Angola have witnessed tremendous progress since establishing diplomatic relations in 1983 and entering into a strategic partner relationship in 2010.

Senior officials of the two countries said that they will further strengthen communications later this year.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China is willing to promote bilateral relationships with Angola to a new stage when he met with Angolan President Joao Lourenco in Luanda, Angola's capital, on Jan 13, according to reports of Xinhua News Agency.

Wang recently visited the country to celebrate the 35th anniversary of China's establishment of diplomatic ties with Angola and hailed the good bilateral relations marked by long-time mutual trust, understanding and support.

China supports Angola in pursuing a development path that suits its own conditions, promoting its economic diversification strategy and enhancing its self-development capacity, Wang said.

He added that China will also continue to encourage Chinese enterprises to invest in Angola and launch more projects, while pointing out that the legitimate interests of Chinese enterprises should be protected according to law.

China has helped Angola to build more than 20,000 kilometers of highways, 2,800 km of rail roads as well as 100 schools and 50 hospitals, contributing to the improvement of the living conditions of residents, according to Wang.

Xinhua quoted Angolan President Joao Lourenco as saying that bilateral cooperation has borne fruitful results during the years since the two sides established diplomatic relations.

Important role

Lourenco thanked China for its investment and financing support, which have played a very important role in the peaceful reconstruction of postwar Angola after a 27-year civil war ended in 2002.

He further hoped that China will continue to support Angola in large-scale infrastructure construction and welcomed Chinese enterprises to cooperate with Angola in the fields of mining, agriculture, animal husbandry and tourism.

Angola will quicken its pace to improve investment and the business environment, so as to guarantee the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, the president said.

Luisa Damian, a politburo member of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola - the ruling party of the country - and also a member of the country's parliament, said that her country is happy with its relationship with China, according to Xinhua reports.

She said China has contributed to Angola's economic development.

"China is helping us to develop our country and our economy, and we have already started seeing the benefits of this cooperation between China and Angola. We hope that this relationship between us will continue to develop," Damian said.

As a result of fruitful educational and cultural exchanges between the two countries, many Angolan students that have studied in China have already started participating in the development of sub-Saharan Africa's third-biggest economy, according to Damian.

She added that the Communist Party of China and the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola share the same ideas about peace, prosperity and improvement of the wellbeing of citizens.

Common objectives

"We have the same common objectives of ameliorating the lives of our people in our respective countries," Damian said, adding that Angola looks forward to China's support for its modernization.

The Angolan lawmaker said that as Africa's second-largest oil producer, the country is trying its best to rid itself of corruption.

"We are also working to fight against corruption just like China," Damian said. "Our main goal is to improve what we are doing well and to correct what is wrong. This is proof that our Party has acknowledged that there are many things that need to be corrected. One of those things is corruption."

China is Angola's largest trading partner and Angola is China's second-largest trading partner in Africa as well as the largest source country of imports in Africa, Chinese Ambassador to Angola Cui Aimin told local newspaper Jornal de Angola.

According to statistics from Chinese Customs, in the first three quarters of 2017, bilateral trade between China and Angola reached $17.13 billion, surging 45.37 percent compared with the same period in the previous year. Exports from China to Angola totaled $1.65 billion with an increase of 33.65 percent year-on-year. The goods China imported from Angola were valued at $15.47 billion, growing by 46.75 percent year-on-year.

During the past 35 years since the countries established diplomatic ties, China has provided loans to Angola worth more than $60 billion, for the construction of infrastructure facilities such as power plants, roads, bridges and hospitals, according to Cui.

Contact the writer through caoyingying@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 01/30/2018 page7)