The upcoming 2018 summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be held in Beijing next week. Nigeria, Africa's largest economy, is seeking more cooperation with China at the summit.

Nigeria currently enjoys a robust and strategic bilateral relationship with China, primarily in infrastructure across the country. "Thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of Chinese government, more opportunities have been presented due to the initiative which built out railway and airport projects," said Muda Yusuf, director general of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

"Nigerian people believe they will benefit more under the Belt and Road Initiative. That's because what we can offer is what Nigeria needs," said Zhou Pingjian, Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria.

Apart from being China's second largest trading partner on the continent, Nigeria is also China's largest export market in Africa. Bilateral trade between both countries in 2017 was estimated at over 12 billion US dollars. Johnson Chukwu, an investment banker, said China has displaced the western countries in terms of bilateral funding relationship with Nigeria.

Johnson also pointed out that Nigeria needs some level of technology transfer beyond the export of finished goods. Skyrun, one of the Chinese companies which opened shop in Nigeria, has grown to become the biggest local manufacturer of electronics and household appliances since 2005. Thousands of jobs were provided, and the workers have been equipped with all the required technical skills.

Zhou also said that not only will China broaden its cooperation with Nigeria in upgrading the country's infrastructure in the future, it will also encourage more Chinese companies to invest in the west African country. Meanwhile, the coming FOCAC summit would provide the platform that enables more "Skyruns" to set up in Nigeria.