Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in Abuja on Wednesday on a
two-day state visit to Nigeria at the invitation of President
Olusegun Obasanjo.
In a statement given at the airport, Hu said although China and
Nigeria were geographically far apart the friendship between the
two countries went back a long way. .
Since the two countries forged diplomatic ties 35 years ago, Hu
said, bilateral relations have withstood the test of time and
international changes. They had entered a mature stage of sustained
and steady development.
The Chinese side treasured bilateral relations and would make
concerted efforts with Nigerian promote bilateral friendship and
cooperation, said Hu.
He said he expected to exchange in-depth views with Obasanjo on
furthering bilateral relations and international and regional
issues of common concern.
He hoped the visit would help enhance bilateral mutual
understanding and trust, deepen bilateral traditional friendship,
expand bilateral reciprocal cooperation in various fields and push
forward the continuous growth of the bilateral strategic
partnership.
Sino-Nigerian trade hit US$2.83 billion in 2005, up 29.6 percent
year on year.
Nigeria is the fourth leg of Hu's five-nation tour which has taken him to
the United States, Saudi Arabia and Morocco. He will also be
visiting Kenya.
(Xinhua News Agency April 27, 2006)