On January 8, 2010, Nigerian Vice President Goodluck Jonathan met with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi in Abuja, capital of Nigeria.
During the meeting, Yang said after the two countries established strategic partnership in 2005, both China and Nigeria witnessed all-round development in their bilateral relations. He said the mutual political trust between the two sides was deepened and exchanges at all levels and in various sectors were frequent. The two countries have conducted close cooperation in international and regional affairs. The economic and trade cooperation of mutual benefit continued to make steady progress and the people-to-people and cultural exchanges were facilitated on wide ranges.
Yang noted that under the new situation, the two countries are expected to enhance cooperation and exchanges so as to cope with challenges. China is willing to make joint efforts with Nigeria to promote mutual understanding and trust so as to boost economic and trade pragmatic cooperation, he said. The Chinese foreign minister called for closer communication and coordination between the two countries in multilateral affairs. He also urged both sides to improve the strategic connotations of their bilateral ties to achieve win-win results and benefit the two peoples.
Yang said the Chinese government attaches great importance to the follow-up actions of the fourth ministerial meeting of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum. The Chinese government is willing to cooperate with Nigeria and other forum member states to fulfill the new eight measures for cooperation with Africa.
Jonathan spoke highly of the Nigeria-China relations, saying Nigeria attaches great importance to the strategic partnership between the two countries. With the joint efforts of both sides, bilateral ties have made remarkable progress. The two countries have continuously advanced pragmatic cooperation in economy, trade and other sectors and supported and cooperated with each other on international and global issues. He said China has actively pushed forward the addressing of climate change and other issues and played a key role in achieving outcome at the Copenhagen Conference. Jonathan highly praised the important contributions made by China to enhancing unity and cooperation of the developing countries. Nigeria will cooperate with China to further consolidate and develop the friendly cooperation and raise the Nigeria-China strategic partnership to a new level, he said. Jonathan reiterated that Nigeria firmly adheres to the one-China policy and will not change this position under any circumstances.
On the same day, Yang also held talks with his Nigerian counterpart Oyo Maduekekwe. The two ministers attended the signing ceremony of relevant cooperation documents between the two countries and jointly met the press.
During his visit, Yang also gave an exclusive interview to the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).
Foreign Minister Yang arrived in Abuja on January 8 for a day-long visit to the West African country.