On the morning of February 28, 2024, Premier Li Qiang of the State Council met with President of Sierra Leone Julius Maada Bio, who is paying a state visit to China, at the Great Hall of the People.
Li Qiang said that since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries more than 50 years ago, China and Sierra Leone have always respected each other, treated each other as equals and cooperated sincerely, and are good friends, good partners and good brothers who share weal and woe. In recent years, under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and Mr. President Julius Maada Bio, China and Sierra Leone have continuously enhanced political mutual trust, achieved fruitful results in various fields of cooperation, maintained close coordination on international affairs, and set a new example of South-South cooperation. China stands ready to work with Sierra Leone to follow through on the important common understandings reached between the two heads of state, carry forward the traditional friendship, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, firmly support each other on issues concerning each other’s core interests and major concerns, and continue to achieve more win-win outcomes and improve the well-being of the two peoples.
Li Qiang pointed out that China is willing to strengthen the alignment of development strategies with Sierra Leone, carry out practical and efficient cooperation, advance the construction of key projects and livelihood projects in an orderly manner, and provide support to the economic and social development of Sierra Leone within its capacity. China will continue to send agricultural technical experts to help Sierra Leone cultivate quality crops and train technical personnel, strengthen exchanges and the sharing of experience in agricultural policy planning with Sierra Leone, and push for deeper and more solid agricultural cooperation between the two countries. China is willing to import more quality products from Sierra Leone, encourages Chinese enterprises to expand investment in Sierra Leone, and hopes that Sierra Leone will continue to provide a good business environment for Chinese enterprises. China stands ready to further strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges with Sierra Leone on youth, education, training and medical care, among others, to consolidate public support for friendly relations between the two countries.
Julius Maada Bio said Sierra Leone regards China as a trustworthy development partner, and the two countries enjoy a profound traditional friendship and close mutually beneficial cooperation. He thanked China for its long-term selfless assistance to Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone abides by the one-China principle and stands ready to work with China to firmly support each other in safeguarding their respective core interests, and deepen cooperation in such fields as infrastructure development, agriculture, economy and trade, education, health and poverty reduction within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, so as to take the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between Sierra Leone and China to a new level. Sierra Leone is ready to strengthen coordination and cooperation with China in international and regional affairs and jointly promote world peace and development.
Wu Zhenglong was present at the meeting.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of Liberia.