On October 11, Zhao Long, Secretary of the CPC Fujian Provincial Committee, met in Xiamen with Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, President of the Council of Ministers of Togo, and his delegation.

On behalf of the CPC Fujian Provincial Committee and the People’s Government of Fujian Province, Zhao Long welcomed President Faure and his delegation on their visit to Fujian, and gave a brief overview of Fujian’s high-quality economic and social development. He noted that China and Togo enjoy a long-standing traditional friendship that has grown stronger over time. President Xi Jinping attaches great importance to the development of China-Togo relations. He has met with President Faure on multiple occasions, and the two leaders have together elevated the China-Togo relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership, and charted the course for bilateral ties. Zhao Long expressed confidence that, under the strategic guidance of the two countries’ leaders, China and Togo will carry forward their traditional friendship and achieve win-win cooperation and common development.

Zhao Long said that Fujian is thoroughly studying and implementing the guiding principles of President Xi Jinping’s important speeches, instructions and directives, and continuing to comprehensively deepen reform, expand high-standard opening up, and advance high-quality development on all fronts. Although Fujian and Togo are tens of thousands of miles apart, their exchanges have grown increasingly closer, with a solid foundation and broad prospects for cooperation. He also expressed the hope that, taking President Faure’s visit as an opportunity, Fujian would work with local authorities in Togo to earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, consolidate traditional friendship, and further strengthen cooperation in investment and trade, the marine sector, and people-to-people exchanges, thereby making greater contributions to deepening China-Togo relations.

President Faure expressed appreciation for Zhao Long’s warm hospitality in Fujian. He said that, returning to beautiful Fujian and Xiamen after many years, he was deeply impressed by the tremendous changes and development achievements he had witnessed, and had gained a deeper understanding of the path of Chinese modernization. Togo attaches great importance to its traditional friendship with China and supports Xiamen’s bid to host the secretariat of the Agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ). He expressed the hope that the visit would further deepen practical cooperation between the two sides in such fields as the marine sector, economy and trade, and investment, so that they could work hand in hand for mutual benefit and win-win results and take China-Togo friendship to new heights.

Wang Min, Chinese Ambassador to Togo, and provincial leaders Wu Xielin, Lin Tao and Zhao Zenglian attended the meeting.