President Xi Jinping called on China and Angola on Thursday to deepen mutual trust and strengthen cooperation as he exchanged congratulations with Angolan President Joao Lourenco on the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
In his message, Xi hailed the progress of bilateral ties over the past four decades, saying that China and Angola have always been sincere and friendly toward each other, worked hand in hand, and understood and supported each other on issues involving their respective core interests and major concerns.
China-Angola relations maintain a momentum of sound development and the fruitful results yielded in bilateral cooperation in various fields have brought tangible benefits to the two peoples, he said.
Noting that he highly values developing China's relations with the African country, Xi expressed his willingness to work with Lourenco to take the 40th anniversary as an opportunity to deepen political mutual trust, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation, and enhance people-to-people friendship, thus writing a new chapter in the flourishing development of the China-Angola strategic partnership.
Lourenco said that Angola-China relations have experienced continuous development, and the nations' mutually beneficial cooperation in all areas has achieved remarkable and satisfactory progress.
In addition, the two countries agree with each other on many global issues, he added.
The Angolan president said his country is ready to work with China to strengthen their friendly and cooperative bilateral relationship, build a shared future with win-win results and achieve common progress and prosperity to better benefit their peoples.
Angola is China's second-largest trading partner in Africa, with bilateral trade reaching $23.34 billion in 2021. The African country is also one of the stops on China's new Foreign Minister Qin Gang's ongoing visit to Africa, his first overseas trip since he was recently appointed to the post.