Sierra Leone President's China visit facilitates bilateral ties

Editor's note: Farhad Chowdhury, a special commentator for CGTN, is a security and strategic affairs researcher and columnist. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Sierra Leone's President Julius Maada Bio is on a state visit to China from February 27 to March 2, at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping. The two countries have issued a joint statement on deepening the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, which highlights the two nations' growing relationship.

This is the first African head of state to visit China this year, which makes the visit noteworthy. Since Sierra Leone is one of China's vital partners in West Africa, Beijing-Freetown relations as well as China-West Africa relations received particular focus during this visit.

It's important to note that this is President Bio's second official travel to China; his first was in August 2018, not long after he took office in Sierra Leone. He has met separately with President Xi and Premier Li Qiang during this historic visit. Through this strategic visit, China and Sierra Leone are securing possible Chinese investments and seeing a notable improvement in bilateral economic ties. The high-level meetings and engagements cover a wide variety of global and regional issues, demonstrating the two countries will confront shared issues and promote closer cooperation.

Strong connections between China and Sierra Leone attest to their relationship's longevity spanning more than 50 years. Ten years after gaining its independence from the UK in 1971, Freetown established diplomatic ties with Beijing. Since then, the two countries have a long-standing friendship and support one another in matters of mutual interest, economic development, and international affairs.

President Bio's China visit serves as a solace for the shared bonhomie between the two nations, especially in the fields of infrastructure, technology, youth development, and food security – which are all important sectors for Sierra Leone.

Strong ties between the two countries have been established by a number of historical, political, and diplomatic practices. Notably, the relationship between China and Sierra Leone was further strengthened in 2018 when the latter joined the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement was inked by the two sides in 2023 in an effort to fortify existing cordial ties and promote socioeconomic growth. Sierra Leone also signed an agreement with China Road and Bridge Corporation and Atepa Group for an estimated $1.5 billion eight-kilometer bridge connecting Freetown with Lungi.

With an amazing bilateral trade value of $1.63 billion, a year-over-year jump of 23.9 percent, China has continuously emerged as Sierra Leone's top commercial partner, demonstrating the depth of its economic connections. By the end of 2022, Chinese companies had $87.5 million invested directly in Sierra Leone.

With the building of the national stadium, housing complexes, eateries and stores in Freetown, among other things, unquestionably, China's investments in Sierra Leone have improved infrastructure, created new employment, and improved educational initiatives. A holistic structure of collaboration will be built up between Beijing and Freetown in a number of areas, including commerce, energy, agriculture, economics, science, technology, space, health, and culture.

Moreover, China has had a big impact on Sierra Leone's healthcare system development. Since dispatching its first medical team to Sierra Leone in 1973, China has sent 24 teams, with the 24th batch of which treated nearly 20,000 local patients and helped the country's health system develop.

Just a few days before President Bio's visit to China, on February 22, the Sierra Leone-China Friendship Hospital and the Chinese hospital Third Xiangya Hospital inked an agreement to improve medical collaboration. In addition to offering medical training to visiting workers in certain areas, the Chinese hospital will increase the amount of nursing help.

Along with generating jobs, these initiatives are fostering knowledge exchanges between Chinese and locals in Sierra Leone. Many people now have better lives. Thus, President Bio has said, "I expressed our deep gratitude to the Chinese medical team for their commitment to improving the country's healthcare service delivery."

China-Sierra Leone relations are not only a paragon for the development of China-Africa relations but also exemplify South-South relations. It can be expected that China and Sierra Leone are heading for a brighter and better future.

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