Du Meets with Guinea-Bissau President José Mário Vaz

　　José Mário Vaz, president of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, who came to attend the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), paid a special visit to Hunan between August 31 and September 1. During his stay, he met with Du Jiahao, CPC Hunan Provincial Committee secretary and Hunan Provincial People’s Congress Standing Committee director, and Xu Dazhe, CPC Hunan Provincial Committee deputy secretary and Hunan governor.

　　Secretary Du, on behalf of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee, the People’s Government of Hunan Province, and all the Hunanese, welcomed President Vaz’s visit to Hunan, and briefed on Hunan’s general situation. He said, “Hunan is the hometown of Chairman Mao Zedong, the founder of New China. It is a traditional agricultural and powerful manufacturing province. Its hybrid rice, engineering machinery, rail transit, electronic information, and non-ferrous smelting industries are among the highest-ranked nationwide.” He continued, “Chairman Mao's folks cherish the traditional friendship with the people of all countries in Africa. We have long been committed to strengthening exchanges and cooperation with African countries in such fields as economy and trade, agriculture, health care, and infrastructure construction.” “The 4th Investing in Africa Forum will open in Changsha next week, and the 1st China-Africa Economic and Trade Fair will also be held in Hunan next year. This will provide good platform and extensive space for deepening exchanges and cooperation with African countries including Guinea-Bissau,” he added.

　　Du promised that Hunan would give full play to its advantages and encourage advancing enterprises and agricultural technology experts to invest in and develop industrial cooperation in rice cultivation in Guinea-Bissau. This would help promote local economic development and food security, better implement the “Belt and Road” initiative, and contribute to bolstering Community of Shared Future between China and Africa. He expected to further enhance mutual understanding via the visit of the President, laying a more solid foundation for the future friendship and cooperation between the two sides.

　　President Vaz believed that the unbreakable friendship between Guinea-Bissau and China was initiated by the “Father of Guinea-Bissau” Cabral and Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong. He said, “The visit to Chairman Mao’s hometown is like returning to my own home. I sincerely hope both sides will accelerate sister-city establishment to continuously strengthen friendly exchanges, and further enhance mutual collaboration in economy and trade, tourism, agriculture, and rice cultivation.”