China, Algeria willing to promote cooperation: FMs

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DAKAR - Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra said Monday that their countries are willing to promote China-Algeria cooperation during a meeting on the sidelines of the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held here.

Noting that this year is of special significance to China and Algeria, Wang said that the Chinese people always remember the great contribution made by the Algerian side 50 years ago to the restoration of the lawful seat of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations.

Under new circumstances, China is willing to carry forward the traditional friendship with Algeria, turn political mutual trust into a driving force for pragmatic cooperation, and push for new and greater development of mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides, he said.

Chinese vaccines have been officially put into production in Alegria, marking that another African country has localized vaccine production, Wang said, adding that China stands ready to strengthen bilateral anti-epidemic cooperation and help Algeria defeat the epidemic at an early date.

For his part, Lamamra congratulated China and the host country Senegal, as co-chairs of the FOCAC, on successfully organizing the ministerial meeting, saying that the important remarks delivered by President Xi Jinping at the opening ceremony will be written in the glorious history of Africa-China cooperation.

The major measures announced by President Xi, including an additional 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Africa, demonstrate the spirit of Africa-China solidarity and will serve as a powerful weapon for Africa and China to jointly defeat the epidemic, Lamamra said.

Algeria and China enjoy a time-honored friendship and great and close relations, Lamamra said, adding that Algeria, a witness of solidarity and mutual assistance between Africa and China, has also benefited greatly from China-Africa cooperation.

Algeria is firmly committed to Africa-China friendship and will work with China to turn the firm political will of Algeria and Africa to cooperate with China into a strong driving force, he said.

The two sides also exchanged views on strengthening ties between China and Arab countries.

Wang congratulated the Algerian side on taking over the rotating presidency of the Arab League next year, saying that the Chinese side supports Algeria in playing a bigger role in international and regional affairs and is willing to strengthen solidarity and cooperation with the Algerian side to tackle common challenges.

Lamamra said that Algeria and China share the same vision in international affairs, and Algeria stands ready to strengthen coordination with China to inject new impetus into the development of Arab-China relations.