Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will from tomorrow begin a diplomatic tour of Africa, visiting Nigeria, Namibia, Congo and Chad from January 5 to 11.

The spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, Mao Ning, in a statement released yesterday, said the visit highlights the importance of maintaining strong ties with African nations.

Ning said: “Wang Yi’s visit is at the invitation of these countries and reinforces China’s long-standing tradition of strengthening Sino-African relations.”

He suggested upgrading bilateral relations between China and African countries with diplomatic ties to strategic relations and elevating China-Africa relations to an “all-weather community with a shared future” for the new era.

This vision is built on advancing modernization in six key areas and implementing 10 partnership actions, which aim to strengthen cooperation in areas like trade, industrialisation, infrastructure development, and people-to-people exchanges.

These actions include initiatives such as building a platform for governance experience sharing, a China-Africa knowledge network, and 25 centres for China and Africa studies.

Adding that the African side responded positively to the proposals, Ning said the trip is significant as it marks the 35th consecutive year that China’s foreign minister has chosen Africa as the destination for their first overseas trip of the year.