China is the country where the 7th Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) has been scheduled to hold and President Muhammadu Buhari will Friday depart for China to participate in the September 3 – 4, 2018 summit in Beijing.
According to Presidency who made the report available, the President’s first engagement in Beijing will be an interactive session with the Nigerian Community in China at the Nigerian Embassy.
Before the formal opening of the FOCAC Summit, President Buhari in his capacity as current Chair of ECOWAS, is expected to deliver remarks at the High-Level Dialogue between Chinese and African leaders, business representatives and African entrepreneurs.
The Nigerian President is scheduled to join President Jinping and other African leaders for the opening and roundtable sessions of the 2018 FOCAC Beijing Summit under the theme: “Towards an even Stronger China-Africa Community with a shared Future.”
After the FOCAC Summit, President Buhari will hold bilateral meetings with President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Keqiang to discuss infrastructure financing for strategic projects in Nigeria and the upgrading of Nigeria-China relations “from strategic partnership to comprehensive strategic partnership.”
The President will also use the occasion of his audience with the Chinese leadership to assess the progress made so far in Chinese interventions in Nigeria’s key priority infrastructure projects, particularly on-going projects in the railway and power sectors.
It is noteworthy that since the last FOCAC VI Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa in December 2015 – the first attended by the Nigerian leader – and his successful State visit to China in April 2016, the current administration has pushed forward practical cooperation with China in the areas of infrastructure construction, trade, investments, finance, power, agriculture, education cooperation, among others.
It would be recalled that President Buhari has consistently acknowledged Chinese support for infrastructure development in Nigeria.
In January 2018 while receiving the Board of Directors of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group, the President