The bilateral trade between China and Nigeria saw an increase of $15.3 billion in 2018, 10.8 per cent higher than 2017.
This was made known during the 2019 Belt and Road Nigeria-China Economic Trade Forum held at the International Conference Centre (ICC) in Abuja, organised by the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China and the China General Chamber of Commerce in Nigeria.
The Belt and Road Initiative was launched in 2013 by the President of China, Xi Jingping, to enhance trade relationship between China and other countries of the world.
Mr. Zhao Yong, the Charge D’Affaires of the Chinese Embassy, said the economic cooperation between the two nations had birthed many “spectacular accomplishments” in sectors including bilateral humanitarian aid and construction of infrastructure.
“The Abuja-Kaduna railway with Chinese technology and standards delivered in 2016. The airport terminal buildings in Abuja and Port Harcourt have also been put into service for several months, and the construction is proceeding smoothly. The construction of the Lekki Deep Water Port and the largest hydropower station in Nigeria, Zungeru Hydropower Station, both run smoothly. These projects, and more were all funded by China and contracted by Chinese enterprises,” he said.
According to Mr. Yong, at the end of 2018, China’s accumulated non-financial investment in Nigeria came at approximately $2.8bn.
The Special Adviser to the Vice President on Economic Matters, Dr. Adeyemi Dipeolu, also urged for greater cooperation between the private sectors in Nigeria and China, and also revealed that China was Nigeria’s biggest trading partner in 2017.
“The value of the exports to Nigeria was about $12.15bn as compared to imports from Nigeria of about $721m,” Dr. Dipeolu stated.
