China, Equatorial Guinea pledge to enhance cooperation

BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang on Friday held talks with the visiting Equatorial Guinean President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo in Beijing, vowing to further advance mutual exchanges and cooperation in various fields.

Hailing the diplomatic ties and lasting friendship between the two countries over the past 42 years, Li said relations between China and Equatorial Guinea have been strong.

Bilateral relations have achieved comprehensive development, said Li, adding that China is willing to work with Equatorial Guinea to maintain the momentum of high-level bilateral exchanges, strengthen communication and coordination in terms of each other's major concerns and international affairs.

Propelling further development of China-Equatorial Guinea relations serves the common interests of the two countries, Li noted, saying that China and Equatorial Guinea are both developing countries and facing heavy development tasks.

He said he hoped that the two sides could exploit new potentials of agricultural cooperation, suggesting that the two countries further cooperate in infrastructure construction, energy and human resources.

Li stressed that China has always attached great importance to Africa's development, saying that China will provide assistance to the continent's sustainable development through cooperation to benefit the African people.

Obiang is in Beijing for the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation running from Thursday to Friday.

Calling China a reliable and trustworthy friend, Obiang said cooperation with China has brought genuine benefits for the people of Equatorial Guinea.

He noted that Equatorial Guinea highly values its relationship with China, and is willing to beef up cooperation with China in various areas such as trade and economy, energy, education, science and technology with efforts to create win-win achievement.