Benin president's visit to facilitate exchanges

President of the Republic of Benin Patrice Athanase Guillaume Talon will pay a four-day state visit to China starting from Thursday, a trip that is expected to further the close exchanges between China and Africa.

During the visit, Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold a welcome ceremony and banquet for his Beninese counterpart. Premier Li Qiang and the country's top legislator Zhao Leji will meet with the African leader respectively.

China's foreign ministry said Talon will also attend the Global Trade in Services Summit, which will kick off on Saturday in Beijing.

Last year marked the 50th anniversary of the reinstatement of diplomatic relations between China and Benin. Over the past half century, the two countries have treated each other with sincerity and friendship.

China-Benin relationship is an example of equality, mutual respect and mutual trust between developing countries, a spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in an online statement on Tuesday.

The spokesperson added that bilateral ties have maintained a good momentum of growth, with deepening political mutual trust, fruitful cooperation in various sectors and close communication and coordination in regional and international affairs.

New impetus

China is confident that the upcoming visit will provide new impetus for the friendly cooperation and take the bilateral relationship to new heights, the spokesperson said.

Last year, trade volume between China and the West African country reached $1.95 billion, according to official statistics. The Chinese government has assisted Benin in building many infrastructure projects, including stadiums, hospitals and schools.

Since 1978, China has sent 26 medical teams with a total of 616 medical workers to the country.

As the trip came just a week after Xi concluded his visit to South Africa, where he gathered with a group of African leaders, an analyst said the exchange of visit in such a short time shows the close relationship between China and Africa.

He Wenping, a senior researcher on African studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said China has always attached great importance to developing relations with the continent.

Noting that West Africa has become a strategic area for power politics by major countries, she said Benin has always been friendly with China and is an important anchor for China to strengthen connection and cooperation with countries in the region.