Buhari Lauds 50 Years of Mutually Beneficial China-Nigeria Relations

*Congratulates China on centenary anniversary of communist party

By Deji Elumoye

President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of founding of the Communist Party of China.

In a letter to the Chinese leader, the President said China has succeeded in building a “moderately prosperous society” and is on the way to building a “modern socialist country.”

President Buhari also affirmed that relations between the two nations “have witnessed an increasingly enhanced political trust, closer mutually beneficial economic and trade relations and cumulatively dynamic people to people exchange between Nigeria and China.”

He stressed that 2021 also bears special significance to Nigeria-China relations, as it marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties adding that the past 50 years have witnessed an increasingly enhanced political trust, closer mutually beneficial economic and trade relations and cumulatively dynamic people to people exchange between Nigeria and China.

According to him: “Nigeria highly values the bilateral cooperation with China, under the initiatives of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and within the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which have brought tangible benefits to Nigeria and its people.

“Nigeria is ready to work with China, to enhance bilateral relations, to deepen cooperation in all pragmatic sectors, as well as to promote exchanges between the two ruling parties, so as to lift the Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership to higher level.”