The Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Cui Jianchun, has assured Nigeria of a robust China-Nigeria collaboration for Nigerian products and commodities to be made available in the Chinese market within the next five years.

The Ambassador made this known in an interview on Saturday during a temple fair organised to mark the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year on Saturday in Abuja.

The Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb. 10, is the year of the Dragon after the 12-year cycle of the Chinese Zodiac.

According to Mr Jiachun, China is the largest economy in Asia while Nigeria is a leading economy in Africa with a lot of similarities in culture and strategic knowledge about the international situation and economy.

He said the volume of trade between China and Nigeria had grown in the past few years.

“China has demonstrated its willingness to give Nigeria and other African countries opportunities to supply their products to its markets.

“This is to support the developing countries to make substantial profits in the spirit of the South-South Cooperation which is an essential component of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

“Nigeria is a pilot country for China and Africa to build the joint BRI,” he said.

Jiachun noted that over his past few years in Nigeria, the 5GIST Nigeria-China GDP Strategy had gradually become a reality.

He said: “The 5GIST Nigeria-China GDP Strategy consists of 4 parts, which are 5G, 5l, 5S and 5T.

“5G refers to the 5 Goals of the Strategy, which are political consonance, economic cooperation, military & security collaboration, international coordination and people’s communication.

“China and Nigeria have been cooperating a lot from infrastructure, ICT, agriculture, mining sector, oil and gas, insurance of banking sectors and also the industry.

“We have done a lot of industrial work here and the most important thing that I would like to let you know is that we are encouraging Nigerians to have more product commodities to be in the Chinese market in the coming five years.”

The Ambassador also noted that with adequate arrangements, large products from Nigeria would enter the Chinese market, which would also encourage innovation.

Also speaking, Ja’afaru Yakubu, chairman of the House Committee on Nigeria-China Relations, expressed his appreciation to the Chinese government for their continuous support to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries.

He said that Nigeria would be hosting a spectacular event to celebrate this important cultural festival, the Chinese New Year temple fair, to reciprocate the friendship received from China.

“This year, we are thrilled to bring vibrant and colourful celebrations to Nigeria as a symbol of the strong and growing relationship between our two nations.

“The fair will be a celebration of unity and friendship as we continue to straighten our ties with China.

“We believe that events like the Chinese temple fair will serve as a reminder of the cultural exchange and mutual respect that underpins our relationship.

“It is my hope that this event will foster greater understanding and appreciation between our two nations and that will be a stepping stone toward even closer cooperation in future.

“We also look forward to seeing Nigeria’s products in the Chinese market,” Mr Yakubu said.

(NAN)