On the evening of September 3, 2024, President Xi Jinping met with Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani, who is in China for the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The two heads of state announced the elevation of the China-Mauritania relationship to a strategic partnership.
Xi Jinping stressed that China and Mauritania are good friends and close brothers who trust and help each other. The two sides have always respected each other and treated each other as equals, with solid political mutual trust, fruitful cooperation results and deep-rooted friendship between the two peoples. China appreciates Mauritania for standing firmly with China on issues concerning China's core interests and will, as always, steadfastly support Mauritania in pursuing a development path suited to its own national conditions. China is ready to work with Mauritania to promote Belt and Road cooperation, deepen cooperation in fisheries, infrastructure and other fields, leverage the role of the agricultural and animal husbandry technology demonstration center in aid of Mauritania, accelerate cooperation in Juncao planting technologies, and build China-Mauritania relations into a model of friendly exchanges and win-win cooperation between countries.
Xi Jinping appreciated Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani's active contributions as rotating chair of the African Union to the preparations for the FOCAC Beijing Summit, and expressed China's willingness to work closely with Mauritania to take the summit as an opportunity to pool the strength of the Chinese and African people, build a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future, increase the voice and representation of the Global South countries in global governance, and jointly uphold international fairness and justice.
Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani said, the friendship between Mauritania and China is solid and profound, and the Mauritanian side is deeply proud of its friendly relations with China. He thanked China for its valuable support for Mauritania's economic and social development, including the country's fight against COVID-19. The Mauritanian side firmly abides by the one-China principle and resolutely opposes all words and deeds that violate the one-China principle. At present, the world is facing many risks and challenges, and deepening cooperation with China is the hope of Mauritania and other countries to achieve sustainable development. Mauritania and China hold highly identical positions on Palestine and other major issues. Both sides firmly oppose interference in other countries' internal affairs, call for respect for the independence of all countries, and reject violent extremism. The Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping have provided solutions for all countries to achieve common security and development, and Mauritania highly appreciates and actively supports them. Mauritania looks forward to working closely with China to make the FOCAC Beijing Summit a success and promote peace and development in Africa and the world at large.
Wang Yi was present at the meeting.
