Cui Jianchun, Ambassador of China in Nigeria, has stressed the need for both countries to harness their cultural talents in order to deepen diplomatic relations between them.

Mr Cui said this while briefing journalists on Saturday in Abuja against backdrop of the joint performance by China National Traditional Orchestra (CNTO) and Nigeria Arts Troupe.

The event organised by CNTO, a national music performance group directly under China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, was centered on shared Chinese harmony and Nigeria-China symphony.

Mr Cui said, “The event is about harmony and symphony; I hope that China and Nigeria can deepen ties through the two musicians and artistes.

“I think it is a high time China and Nigeria walked together; we can foster diplomatic relations and economic cooperation, also we love to build people-to-people communication.

“We are deepening political trust, but most important thing is how can we do more exchanges between our two countries? We do believe it is time for us to work closely together;

“Nigeria as a country is a big giant, we need talented people, skilled and knowledgeable batch of experts to build this great country.”

The envoy commended Nigerians, who after their study in China, returned to their country, saying Chinese philosophy entailed that if young persons studied abroad, they should support their home country.

He explained that as of June 2023, 65 Nigerian students who graduated from Chinese universities had returned and are now employed by the China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) and other entities.

In a separate interview at the event, Caroline Adepoju, acting Comptroller-Generlal, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), commended the Nigeria-China symphony to be apt, in terms of deepening Nigeria-China relations.

“This is beautiful, entertainment industry is very crucial to the development of any economy and this is a welcome development,.

“We look forward to such occasion in the future. Anything that is cross-cultural and that can facilitate exchange of knowledge, technology and entertainment is good.

“When we can bring people from other parts of the world and they see Nigeria is advantaged in many ways.

“We have great population, climate and even, economy to support all these, all we need is to ensure that we sell our culture and make people to be conscious,” she said.

She mentioned that there is the need to create relevant awareness on Nigeria-China cross-cultural exchanges, adding that NIS would support all forms of development projects in Nigeria.

For his part, Abdullahi Usman, director-general, Borno Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (BOCCIMA), extolled Nigeria-China diplomatic relations to have been built on mutual grounds.

According to him, Nigeria’s relationship with China did not start today, it started years ago and the business volume between Nigeria and China has grown.

Mr Usman said, “Usually, our people go to places like Asia, India, some to Dubai and so on, but today a large volume of our commerce people go to China.

“I believe with better relationship, Nigeria-China diplomatic relations will grow to greater heights. Such will not only develop our commerce, but also our manpower.

“This is because lots of things happen in China, in terms of technology, innovation and ICT, which I believe this is an opening and a great one to our people.”

The director-general also urged the Federal Government to overhaul electricity power supply and beef up security to encourage more foreigners to come and invest in Nigeria,

Highpoint of the event was joint performances adapted from Nigerian and Chinese folk songs, as well as flute and drum.

(NAN)