Chinese premier meets Gabonese president

Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with Gabonese President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, who is on a state visit to China, in Beijing on Friday.

Li said that since the two countries established diplomatic ties, bilateral relations have continuously reached new heights, mutually beneficial cooperation has yielded new results, and traditional friendship has stood the test of time.

He said China is willing to work with Gabon to further consolidate political mutual trust, deepen practical cooperation, continue to enrich the China-Gabon comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, and bring more benefits to both peoples.

China stands ready to deepen cooperation with Gabon in traditional sectors like mining, infrastructure, agriculture, forestry and fishery, actively cooperate in emerging fields, including the digital economy and artificial intelligence, and create further growth drivers to better promote common development, Li said.

China is willing to import more quality products from Gabon and support more Chinese enterprises in investing and doing business in Gabon, Li added.

Li also called for strengthened bilateral cooperation in areas such as youth, culture, tourism, health care, and localities, noting that China firmly supports Africa's unity and self-strengthening, and is willing to enhance multilateral coordination and cooperation with Gabon and other African countries.

President Nguema congratulated China on the successful convening of the fifth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, noting that Gabon firmly adheres to the one-China principle, and supports the vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity and the four global initiatives proposed by China.

Nguema said China is Gabon's sincere and reliable development partner, adding that Gabon highly appreciates China's "zero-tariff" policy. He said his country is willing to deepen practical cooperation with China in mining, transportation, energy, fishery, forestry and artificial intelligence, expand people-to-people and cultural exchanges such as youth training, strengthen multilateral collaboration, and promote better development of Africa-China relations.