By John Okeke
The Federal Republic of Nigeria and the People’s Republic of China have signed a Memorandum of Understanding onthe establishment of an Intergovernmental Committee between the countries.
Spokesperson Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ferdinand Nwonye in a statement said that Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama signed on behalf of the Nigerian Government, while his Chinese counterpart Mr. Wang Yi signed for his country.
The statement explained that the committee will coordinate the cooperation and relations between both countries.
The Committee is added will be co-chaired by the Foreign Affairs Ministers of both countries.“Mr. Wang Yi, State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the people’s Republic of China and members of a high-powered Chinese delegation has departed Nigeria after a successful two-day official visit to Abuja.
“The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama received the Chinese Foreign Minister in the audience. They held bilateral discussions on strengthening already existing cordial relations between Nigeria and China and shared information and knowledge pursuant to the interests of both countries inmultilateral fora,” the statement said.
Nwonye said the Ministers of Transportation, Industry, Trade and Investment, and Health participated in the Meeting, together with representatives of the Ministry of Aviation and the Chief of Air Staff, as well as a number of other senior governmentofficials.
He disclosed that the Meeting focused on the following issues: political; trade and economic;defense and security cooperation; education; technical cooperation; and consul armatters to mention a few.He also disclosed that Onyeama escorted his Chinese counterpart to the StateHouse, Aso Villa, to pay a courtesy visit to President MuhammaduBuhari.
He concluded that the Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs is expected to reciprocate the visit at a date to be decided in future, pursuant to strengthening the bilateral relations between Nigeria and China.
