LIBREVILLE — Enjoying friendly relations that go back a long way, Gabon and China have been constantly strengthening practical cooperation in various fields, Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency during his state visit to China.

Bongo was on a state visit to China from Tuesday to Friday.

Bongo expressed hope that an accelerated bilateral relationship would bring more benefits to the two peoples.

Bilateral relations have been marked by mutual respect, friendship and mutual trust, as well as mutually beneficial cooperation, said Bongo.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations almost five decades ago, the two countries have maintained close high-level exchanges, and bilateral relations have been constantly consolidated and developed. The two countries have also firmly supported each other on issues involving each other's core interests and major concerns, he said.

On the international level, the two countries have reached a high level of consensus on preserving global peace and security, as well as resolving conflicts, placing particular emphasis on abiding by international laws, including the United Nations Charter, and jointly safeguarding international equity and justice, Bongo said.

Mutual benefits

Highlighting the presence of Chinese companies and investors in various sectors in Gabon, including agro-industry, infrastructure, fishing and mining, Bongo said the two countries have "fully leveraged their respective strengths and their economic complementarity" for mutually beneficial economic growth.

"As such, I would like to congratulate once again on the level of economic and trade cooperation between Gabon and China, which in recent years has become one of the major drivers in the economic development of my country," he said.

In 2018, Gabon and China signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, which, Bongo said, created opportunities to diversify his country's economy and improve people's livelihoods.

Since the signing of the memorandum, the two countries have striven to promote policy coordination, facilities connectivity, trade facilitation, financial integration and people-to-people bonds.

Gabon "intends to fully seize all the opportunities offered by the BRI to diversify its economy, as part of the implementation of its development strategy", he said.

Referring to Africa-China relations, Bongo said China attaches great importance to the development of African countries and continues to open new paths for Africa-China cooperation via the mechanism of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

Xinhua