Chinese Embassy Pledges to Ensure Implementation of 13 Newly Signed Agreements with Nigeria

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

The Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Yu Dunhai, has said he has commenced work to ensure the implementation of the 13 agreements recently signed by Nigerian and Chinese governments during the visit of President Bola Tinubu to China, insisting that works have commenced to ensure that all the agreements see the light of the day.
Dunhai, who addressed journalists at the Chinese Embassy in Abuja, on the importance of Nigeria President’s state visit to China and the cooperation agreements signed between the two countries, noted that Tinubu’s visit opened a new vista in China and Nigeria bilateral relations.
He explained also that with the upgrade of bilateral relations, there would be an increase in activities between both countries, with the impending movement of Chinese investors into Nigeria.
He said: “During President Tinubu’s visit, the relevant government departments of the two sides signed a total of 13 cooperation documents, covering such areas as high-quality Belt and Road cooperation planning, the implementation of the global development initiative, economic growth, human resources, application of Beidou Satellite Navigation System, export of peanuts to China, and the media exchanges.
“Among them, one of the bilateral cooperation documents covers around 19 projects that China and Nigeria are cooperating and intend to cooperate with. In addition, multiple cooperation arrangements were signed between relevant departments, state governments, and Chinese companies during the visit.”
The envoy responding on what would be done to ensure that the 13 MoUs signed by China and Nigeria are implemented, said: “That is exactly my mission and task. That is my priorities. From the Chinese side, the two sides we signed 13 cooperative documents. Actually, I believe it’s much more than that because there are other cooperative documents signed not between the department to department, but between department to company.
“So I think the two sides, we are going to follow through with all those side documents. I’m sure that I’m going to be very busy, and the people here in Abuja are going to be very busy, and maybe in Lagos, and in many other states, because there are going to be a lot of incoming visiting delegations from China. And I’m sure that there are going to be a lot of outbound delegations from Nigeria to China. I think the only purpose is to try to materialise to translate the consensus reached by our two presidents the documents that we signed into reality. So I have a lot of work to do, and I think that’s also the responsibility of our two sides.
“So as ambassador, I’m certainly looking forward to working with all sectors and to materialise all those cooperative documents.
“So as the new Chinese ambassador, I look forward to working with people from all walks of life to bring China-Nigeria relations to a new height.”
He also stressed that President Tinubu’s visit to China is of great significance to build on the past successes and to further advance China-Nigeria relations and China-Africa relations.
The envoy added that: “China is willing to strengthen coordination and cooperation with Nigeria in multilateral affairs and jointly safeguard the interests of developing countries.
“Going forward, we will work closely with all sectors of Nigeria to implement the important consensus reached by our two countries and ensure that we translate the consensus between our two leaders into concrete actions in order to move forward for upgrading bilateral cooperation.”
On what should be expected from the upgrade of China-Nigeria relations, Dunhai said it means that China and Nigeria are going to be more closely knitted together “to ensure our relations are stronger and we are going to cooperate more in all areas.”
He added that: “So that’s why I believe that this visit is unique, is historical, and also I personally feel that this is a great success.
“I’m sure that with this visit, it’s going to provide us with a huge potential to increase our trade values.”