Chinese official calls for closer ties with Algeria, Tunisia, Cote d'Ivoire

ABIDJAN, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Yang Wanming, president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, called for promoting bilateral ties with Algeria, Tunisia and Cote d'Ivoire during his visit to these African countries.

Yang, who led a delegation to visit these African countries from Jan. 13 to 22, met and exchanged views with political leaders and people committed to friendship with China, including Vice-President of the National People's Assembly of Algeria Munther Boden, Secretary of State to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad Mohamed Ben Ayed, and President of the Economic, Social, Environmental and Cultural Council of Cote d'Ivoire Eugene Aka Adouele.

During the visit, Yang also attended and delivered a speech at a reception hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Algeria, which aimed to promote friendship between China and Algeria.

The various parties expressed their commitment to jointly implementing the important consensus reached between Chinese President Xi Jinping and the leaders of the three countries, as well as the guiding principles of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

They pledged to strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges, foster mutual learning between civilizations, promote cooperation at sub-national levels and between sister cities, enhance exchanges and friendship among youths, and deepen pragmatic cooperation, so as to contribute to the continuous development of China-Arab and China-Africa relations.