Beijing - Angola and China begin negotiations Friday in Beijing to strengthen cooperation and strategic partnership, as part of the Angolan President's state visit.
President João Lourenço has been in the capital of the People's Republic of China since Thursday, leading a ministerial delegation that will discuss the new terms of bilateral cooperation.
For three days, delegations from Angola and China will reassess the instruments governing bilateral cooperation and identify new areas for strategic partnership outside the domain of oil.
The agenda of this first day include political meetings between the Angolan Head of State and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, and other work meetings with the Chinese Prime Minister, Li Qiang, and the President of the National People's Assembly ( Parliament), Zhao Leji.
Later today, João Lourenço will participate in the Angola-China Business Forum, an event that will discuss the possibility of new Chinese investments in Angola, particularly in the field of agriculture.
The meeting will be an opportunity for the Angolan Head of State to speak about the changes implemented by the Angolan Executive in the internal domain, aiming to improve the business environment and attract investors.
João Lourenço should call for increased Chinese investment, especially from local businesspeople, as well as talking about the issue of Angola's debt to China.
Meetings
On Thursday, the Angolan President received Chinese businesspeople who operate in various sectors in the Angolan market, including the president of China Gezghouba Group Corporation (CGGC), Tan Hua.
With this entity, João Lourenço spoke about the Caculo Cabaça Hydroelectric Plant, which is being built in the province of Cuanza-Norte (Kwanza River Basin) by this contractor.
Another audience was with the chairman of the Board of Directors of the company Hebei Huatong Cable Group, Zhang Wedong, who discussed the progress of work on an aluminum production factory in Bengo, with a production capacity of 120,000 tons per year.
In another meeting, João Lourenço received the president of the Engineering Corporation (AVIC), Liu Hong Guang, in charge of the construction of the Dr. António Agostinho Neto Airport, opened last year.
In the series of separate meetings, the President of the Republic also received the chairman of the Board of Directors of Zheijiang Sunshine Industrial Group, Wu Hongxin, who invested USD 550 million in Angola.
Among the set of audiences granted to Chinese CEOs, the representation of Safety Technology, a subsidiary of China Telecom, headed by the chairman of its Board of Directors, Li Longqing, also stands out.
The two States have a long history of cooperation, which is based on different areas, such as oil, health, infrastructure, staff training, among others.
Angola and China are strategic partners, with political, diplomatic and cooperation relations that have seen a notable increase since 2000, enabling the signing of several legal instruments in the social, commercial and business domains. FMA/VIC/DOJ
