Bilateral ties between China and Cote d'Ivoire have undergone tremendous growth over the past three and a half decades. CGTN sat down with Cote d'Ivoire's President Alassane Ouattara to discuss the future of their diplomatic relations.  

HAN YINGYA CGTN REPORTER "Your Excellency, this year marks the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Cote d'Ivoire. Over the years, both sides have witnessed growth in political, trade, and cultural exchanges. How would you evaluate and define the current diplomatic relations between the two countries?"

ALASSANE OUATTARA PRESIDENT OF COTE D'IVOIRE "Thank you. You know Cote d'Ivoire was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with your beautiful, great country. That was under President Felix Houphouet-Boigny, our first president. Now it's the 35th anniversary and we are proud to continue along the same path. Our relations have been excellent, and they have intensified since 2011, 2012, since I was elected president of the republic. We have many projects together in infrastructure, drinking water supplies, electricity -- the Soubré Dam -- and all this has fueled growth in Cote d'Ivoire, bringing annual average growth rate to 9% between 2012 to 2016, which is extraordinary. So we are very proud of this exceptional relationship with China."

HAN YINGYA CGTN REPORTER "During the 2015 China-African Cooperation Forum in Johannesburg, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced China would roll out 10 major plans to boost cooperation with Africa and would provide 60 billion US dollars of funding. What's your assessment of the implementation of the Johannesburg agreement over the past three years?"

ALASSANE OUATTARA PRESIDENT OF CÔTE D'IVOIRE "I attended the Johannesburg forum and had a pleasant conversation with President Xi Jinping. I told him then that Cote d'Ivoire was one of Africa's most important economies. We are at the heart of West Africa, so investments in Cote d'Ivoire will benefit hundreds of thousands of people in that country and in neighboring countries. So we hope China will do even more in Cote d'Ivoire, and that's what President Xi did. I also pointed out to him that some West African countries had still not established diplomatic relations with China, which would be in the interests of the region, so we would encourage them to do so. Today, I'm happy to see that Burkina Faso has resumed ties with China, because Burkina Faso is our neighbor, just like Mali, Guinea and Liberia. President Xi's Belt and Road Initiative allow the countries to connect. It's a very ambitious project that involves a 60 billion US dollars investment. I believe 90 percent of the funding has already been allocated to various projects under the initiative. I'm very proud to see that the Chinese government and President Xi have heard us and have accepted our project proposals. These projects are selected by the people and the government of Cote d'Ivoire, so it's different from other countries. These project will increase employment for young people and for women."