Xi vows to tighten ties, strengthen cooperation with DRC

By CGTN

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday held talks with President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, with both sides vowing to elevate the bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

Bilateral cooperation in various fields has yielded fruitful results in recent years, and China has been the DRC's largest trading partner and source of foreign investment for many years in a row, Xi said.

The two sides have forged a close community of shared interests and shared future, Xi said.

He expressed the belief that China's high-quality development will provide more cooperation opportunities and a broader market for the DRC and promote greater development of bilateral relations.

China will, as always, help the DRC in its economic and social development, support its industrialization strategy, strengthen cooperation in energy, mining, agriculture, infrastructure, and manufacturing, and tap the potential of cooperation in the digital economy, education, and health, Xi said, adding that China is ready to send agricultural technology experts to the DRC.

China hopes that the DRC will provide policy support and service convenience for Chinese enterprises to invest and do business in the DRC and foster a fair, just, and safe business environment, he said.

Xi said China is ready to strengthen coordination and cooperation with the DRC in multilateral affairs, jointly practice true multilateralism, and uphold international fairness and justice.

Noting China is the world's largest developing country and Africa is the continent with the largest number of developing countries, Xi said China and Africa have always been a community with a shared future.

China firmly supports Africa in pursuing an independent development path and becoming an important pole in the world's politics, economy and civilization, Xi said, adding that China is ready to provide new opportunities for African countries with its new development. 

As for his part, Tshisekedi appreciated China for its assistance and valuable support to the DRC's economic and social development over the years.

The DRC firmly adheres to the one-China policy and firmly supports China's efforts to achieve national reunification, Tshisekedi said.

The DRC is willing to work with China to deepen cooperation in economy, trade, resources, infrastructure, medical care and other fields, enrich the connotation of the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries and build mature, stable and groundbreaking relations for the benefit of the two peoples, Tshisekedi added.

(With input from Xinhua)