During his official tour of Africa, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang met on Friday with Beninese President Patrice Talon who expressed his genuine greetings to Chinese President Xi Jinping. This was declared by the Chinese news agency Xinhua.
Patrice Talon considered that this visit highlights the close friendly relations that link the two countries, especially since it comes just after the 50th anniversary of the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Benin and China while adding the role of China in supporting and assisting developing countries and Benin in particular.
Mr. Talon continued that Benin would like to benefit from the Chinese experience and deepen its cooperation with China in order to contribute to the country’s development.
For his part, Mr. Qin recalled the relations of respect and equal status between the two countries which support each other. Moreover, Benin supports China on issues relating to its fundamental interests.
Mr. Quin stressed that China is committed to a sincere partnership with Benin, based on mutual political trust toward development.
According to him, China wishes to implement the consensus of the two heads of state and the results of the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) to advance Sino-Beninese relations. China encourages Beninese investment in China and hopes that Benin will stand by its side in defending the security and legitimate interests of Chinese institutions.
During his visit, Mr. Qin also talked with his Beninese counterpart Aurélien Agbénonci and signed documents on bilateral cooperation in cultural exchanges.