Chinese President Xi Jinping told Beninese President Patrice Athanase Guillaume Talon on Friday that China is ready to deepen cooperation in all fields as the two countries establish a strategic partnership.
Talon is paying a state visit to China from August 31 to September 3. He is set to attend the Global Trade in Services Summit, which runs from September 2 to 6 in Beijing.
China attaches great importance to the development of China-Benin relations and is willing to work closely with Benin at all levels, as well as promote bilateral relations to a new level, Xi said.
In recent years, the two sides have supported each other on issues of mutual core interests and major concerns and maintained good communication and coordination on multilateral occasions, he noted.
China supports Benin in independently exploring development paths suited to their national conditions, and is willing to strengthen exchanges with Benin in terms of experience in governance, share experience in reform and development, and firmly support each other to realize common development and revitalisation, he said.
He said China encourages its enterprises to invest in and cooperate with Benin, and welcomes Benin to promote the entry of its high-quality products with unique features into the Chinese market, by making full use of such large-scale events as the Global Trade in Services Summit and the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo.
Xi said China is willing to work closely with Benin in people-to-people exchanges, strengthen cooperation in areas including education and medical and health care, and continue to support the joint construction of the Luban Workshop.
The two sides should also strengthen counter-terrorism and security cooperation, conduct closer coordination in international affairs, safeguard the common interests of developing countries and international justice, and maintain peace and development in the region and the world, he said.
China supports Africa in becoming an important pole in the world's political, economic and civilisational development, and it is willing to provide new opportunities for Africa with its own new development, he said.
China will work with its African brothers, including Benin, to implement the outcomes of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, forge strong synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, Agenda 2063 of the African Union (AU) and the development strategies of African countries, and support the realisation of Africa's development goals and the development of the AU, he added.
Talon said China is a great friend of Benin, and the two peoples share a deep and sincere friendship. High-quality cooperation between Benin and China is mutually beneficial and will strongly promote Benin's industrialisation process and help Benin better achieve national development, he said.
Noting that there should not be only one model of democracy and that true democracy should benefit all people, he said China has set a good example for other countries in this regard.
Benin has greatly benefited from China's experience in governance and is willing to build a strategic partnership with China, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries in various fields and realize national development and prosperity as China has done, he said.
Benin firmly adheres to the one-China principle, supports the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilisation Initiative put forward by Xi, and is willing to closely communicate and collaborate with China to actively push forward the building of the Belt and Road Initiative and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, he added.
After the talks, the two heads of state witnessed the signing of a number of bilateral cooperation documents in areas such as deepening the joint construction of the Belt and Road, green development, the digital economy, agri-food and health.
The two sides also issued a joint statement on the establishment of a strategic partnership between China and Benin.
* This article was originally published by CGTN.