China-Canada relations have been upgraded to a comprehensive strategic partnership. This is one of the main achievements of Gabonese President Bongo's state visit to China. A prominent achievement of President Bongo’s visit to China this time was that China and Gabon issued the “Joint Statement on the Establishment of a Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership Between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Gabon” on April 19, announcing that the relationship between the two countries has changed from the China-Gabon Comprehensive Cooperative Partnership Promoted to a comprehensive strategic partnership. The statement pointed out that the two sides will support each other on issues related to each other's core interests, and safeguard national independence, sovereignty, security and development interests; China firmly opposes external forces interfering in Gabon's internal affairs. We oppose any words or deeds that damage China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

At the end of 2022, China will upgrade China-Tanzania relations to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. This was announced during Tanzanian President Hassan's visit to China. China has always strengthened its cooperation with African countries from a strategic height. In January, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang went to Gabon. One of his tasks was to prepare for the talks between the Chinese leader and the Gabonese president in Beijing. The strategic nature of the relationship with Gabon will enable the two sides to expand the scope of cooperation and the scope of providing resources to China. China is helping Gabon explore and refine oil, iron ore and manganese. A promising area for strategic partnerships is the joint uranium project.

President Bongo will be the first African head of state to visit China in 2023. Before he became president, he visited China with his father or as the Minister of Defense many times. After he became president and this visit, he has visited China four times. He is an old friend of the Chinese people. During this visit to China, President Xi Jinping held friendly talks with President Bongo, exchanged in-depth views on China-Canada, China-Africa relations and international and regional issues of common concern, and reached broad and important consensus. Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Zhao Leji also met with President Bongo respectively. These are conducive to consolidating and deepening the traditional friendly cooperation between China and Canada.

The two countries signed a number of bilateral cooperation documents in the fields of investment, agriculture, housing and urban construction, and climate change. The two sides announced in the joint statement that the two sides agreed to intensify exchanges and cooperation between government departments at all levels of the two countries, strengthen policy docking and exchange of experience in governance and administration, deepen high-quality cooperation in the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, and step up the promotion of global development initiatives and emerging Gabon strategies, Accelerate the docking of transformation plans, improve the level of bilateral trade, further expand infrastructure construction, deepen investment cooperation in agriculture, oil and gas, mining, forestry and fishery, deepen exchanges and cooperation in the fields of climate, peace and security, and strengthen the protection of the security of citizens and institutions of the other party within the country and legal rights. In order to further promote the economic cooperation and development between the two countries, the Gabon diplomatic representative office will also set up the Silk Road International Business Center of the Republic of Gabon in China.

China has been Gabon's largest trading partner for nine years. In 2022, the bilateral trade volume will reach US$4.55 billion, a year-on-year increase of 50.8%. Gabon's exports to China are mainly oil, manganese and timber. China supplies Gabon with engineering and electrical products, steel and cement. It is well known that the depletion of oil reserves has led Gabonese to seek an alternative to oil revenues by exporting processed timber. China is helping them in this regard. Gabon is home to more than a dozen Chinese companies that hold logging concessions, and more than 30 companies that process wood into furniture and other high value-added products. About 3,000 Chinese nationals live in Gabon and are engaged in oil and mining, fishing, forestry, catering, retail and infrastructure construction.

China's stance of treating Africa as an equal partner and one of its priority partners strengthens the independence of African countries and overcomes the consequences of Western interference. At the same time, China, as always, supports the efforts of specialized African regional organizations headed by the AU to develop economic integration and maintain stability in Africa. Both of these trends are helping to increase Africa's role in global governance and transform the continent into independent centers of power and influence in a multipolar world.Editor/XingWentao