President Xi Jinping shakes hands with Mozambique President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi during a meeting on Wednesday. (Photo : Getty Images)
President Xi Jinping called Mozambique "a good brother" during his meeting with President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi on Wednesday. Xi expressed China's plans to strengthen the ties between the two countries through the diplomatic system of Beijing.
Xi said that China is set to have a "comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership" with Mozambique in a tactical scheme to expand the nation's cooperative efforts with African countries in terms of energy, politics and economics.
The Mozambican president positively responded to the support of China during their country's struggle for independence in the 1960s.
Xi further lightened the mood during the discussion when he stated that the two countries are "aligned in development concepts . . . as well as a wide range of common interests."
The meeting was followed by the signing of cooperation agreements between China and Mozambique. The accords involved a variety of areas, including food aid, production capacity and cultural enrichment.
Recently, Mozambique's $1 billion worth of debts was exposed. South China Morning Post reported that the revelation caused the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to stop the financial aid to the African country.
According to Deputy Foreign Minister Zhang Ming, "China would offer support in national defence and maintaining social stability, and encourage more investment in Mozambique." He also said that the affirmative results of the meeting between the two leaders will result in an increase in mutual trust and support.
Zhang said that China would offer financial and technological support after the big loss of Mozambique in terms of financial aid from two of the biggest financial benefactors in the world. Since 2012, China has been providing Mozambique a steady increase in funding, making it the African nation's principal bilateral creditor.
Aside from Mozambique, China is also eyeing for better collaborative plans with other African countries. Beijing has plans to build a logistics support center in the Republic of Djibouti.
