BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Beninese counterpart, Patrice Athanase Guillaume Talon, announced the establishment of a China-Benin strategic partnership on Friday.
The announcement was made when Xi held talks with Talon, who is in China for a state visit, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
During their talks, Xi noted that China-Benin relations have enjoyed a sound development momentum in recent years, with solid progress achieved in practical cooperation.
The two countries have provided support for issues related to each other’s core interests and major concerns, and maintained sound communication and coordination in multilateral events, Xi said. “China attaches great importance to developing relations with Benin, and is willing to maintain closer exchanges at all levels, deepen friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields, and push bilateral relations to a new level,” Xi said.
Expounding on the essential connotations of Chinese modernization, Xi said that China has embarked on a modernization path different from that of the West. He noted that the key lies in always adhering to China’s national conditions and the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
China supports Benin in independently exploring a development path suited to its actual conditions, and stands ready to strengthen exchanges of governance experience with Benin, share experience in reform and development, firmly support each other, and achieve common development, Xi 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 also underlined bilateral cooperation in education, health care, and the construction of the Luban Workshop, a project named after the ancient Chinese craftsman Lu Ban to provide vocational skills training for local people.
He called on the two sides to strengthen counterterrorism and security cooperation, work closely to coordinate in international affairs, safeguard the common interests of developing countries and international fairness and justice, and safeguard regional and global peace and development.
Earlier, President Xi Jinping Friday extended congratulations to faculty, students, and alumni of National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) as the university marks its 70th anniversary.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), sent a congratulatory letter to the university.
In the letter, Xi acknowledged the great contribution made by the university over the past seven decades to the development of national defense and the armed forces, stressing that the university has nurtured excellent graduates, achieved cutting-edge scientific and technological breakthroughs and made progress in researching and developing weaponry and equipment. –Agencies
