Ladies and Gentlemen:
Good Morning!
I am pleased to attend the Lekki Construction Machinery Exhibition. On behalf of the Chinese Government, I would like to extend my warm congratulations on the opening of the event.
It is well known that both China and Nigeria are important developing countries with long history of friendship. In 2005, the two countries established the strategic partnership and opened a new chapter of bilateral relations. Henceforth, the two countries conducted frequent high-level visits, maintained sound coordination and cooperation when dealing with international and regional affairs, and further improved the mutual understanding and friendship. The strategic partnership between China and Nigeria has therefore been greatly consolidated and strengthened.
As a major component of bilateral relations, economic and trade cooperation between China and Nigeria has also achieved remarkable success. Thanks to the joint efforts of governments, enterprises and people from both countries, the scope and scale of bilateral economic cooperation have been continuously expanded and developed. It is playing a significant and leading role for the China-Africa economic and trade cooperation.
First, the trade volume rapidly increased and quality improved. China becomes Nigeria's second largest trading partner; and Nigeria is China's second largest export market in Africa. The trade volume between the two sides grew by nearly three times since 2004 and reached the peak of 7.2 billion of US Dollars (USD) in the year of 2008. In spite of a slight decrease in 2009 influenced by the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), the trade volume between the two countries sharply moved up by 41.8 percent to 3.67 billion USD in the first half of 2010, which exceeded the level of pre-GFC. While the trade volume surged, the trade structure has also improved. The export from Nigeria to China has been on the rise for two consecutive years, in particular the value rocketed to 702 million USD by the end of June 30, 2010, presenting an increase of 324%. With synchronized growth in both quality and quantity, trade between China and Nigeria has entered a new phase of development.
Second, mutually beneficial cooperation between the business communities has yielded more fruitful results. With the support of favorable polices from both governments, Chinese companies established in Nigerian business communities since early 1980s. The involved fields include Petroleum, Free Zone Projects, Iron and Steel, Manufacturing, Agriculture, Fishery, Pharmacy, etc. According to the statistic of Chinese embassy, as of the end of June 2010, the accumulated investment made by Chinese enterprises in Nigeria amounted to 7.5 billion USD. Over 40 thousand Nigerians work in Chinese business communities, and some of them become senior staff and enter into executive and management team, which highly improves local employment and conducts a great contribution to the economy of Nigeria.
Third, cooperation on the construction and development of Lekki Free Zone has produced practical results and delivered real benefit to local people. As one of the important measures of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, China closely cooperated with Nigeria to establish and develop the Lekki Free Zone since 2006. To date, the Lekki Free Zone has finished initial infrastructure construction, attracted over 60 Chinese companies to invest in the zone, and caused wide acknowledgement and good reputation in China. In the 4th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation at Sharm El Sheikh November, 2009, China and African countries further reached a consensus to deepen the cooperation on the establishment of business zones in Africa. The Chinese Government will intensify efforts to attract investment, actively encourage more Chinese companies to make investment in the zone, and provide facilitation to increase the local production capacity and employment.
Ladies and Gentlemen
Both China and Nigeria are emerging economies with important influence on the world. The two countries' economy is highly complementary and enjoys huge potentials. With the largest population in Africa, Nigeria is experiencing a fast-growing period with a large market. In the mean time, after the opening-up of 30 years, China accumulated a great deal of experience on economy development, advanced technology, capital and human capacity. For the common prosperity of our two countries, it is fully necessary to further expand and upgrade the economic cooperation and trade between China and Nigeria.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Next year will mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Nigeria. For 40 years, guided by the principle of mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, we have boosted friendship in all fields and expanded economic cooperation and trade. Under this background, Nigeria is increasingly attracting Chinese companies and products. At this exhibition, a number of reputable and leading Chinese companies specified in machinery sector will showcase their products and services with high quality and technology. I hope that the business communities of both countries will seize this good opportunity and work in partnership to realize the common prosperity and promote the economic cooperation and trade between China and Nigeria.
Thank you!