By Faith Anisiobi, The Sight News
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Dunoma Umar Ahmed, PhD, held a significant meeting with the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Nigeria, H.E. Yu Dunhai, on Thursday, 13 August 2026, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja.
The discussions centered on the current state of Nigeria-China relations and explored opportunities to deepen bilateral cooperation across multiple sectors.
The meeting highlighted key areas including trade and investment, economic development, security, energy, manufacturing, agriculture, and digital technology. Ambassador Yu emphasized recent positive strides in economic relations, particularly the opening of the Chinese market to Nigerian products under a zero-tariff policy.
This initiative is expected to create new opportunities for Nigerian manufacturers and exporters, especially producers of plastic goods.
In a notable development, Ambassador Yu announced a RMB 200 million (approximately US$3.3 million) grant from the Chinese Government to support jointly identified projects, signaling a boost in collaborative efforts between the two nations.
Ambassador Dunoma expressed gratitude for China’s ongoing support to Nigeria and Africa, reaffirming Nigeria’s commitment to strengthening the Nigeria-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
He stressed the need to convert the strong political ties into tangible economic benefits through increased trade, investment, technology transfer, and mutually beneficial development projects.
The Permanent Secretary reiterated Nigeria’s adherence to the One-China Policy and underscored the importance of expanding cooperation in agriculture, digital technology, mining, and renewable energy.
He encouraged Chinese investment in Nigeria’s Special Economic Zones to promote industrialization, value addition, and local manufacturing capacity development. He also highlighted Nigeria’s mining sector reforms and abundant solid mineral resources as promising areas for bilateral cooperation.
On security matters, Ambassador Dunoma praised China’s contributions to peacekeeping, counter-terrorism, and conflict resolution. He called for enhanced collaboration to strengthen Nigeria’s capacity to combat terrorism, including exchanges in security expertise, technology, and capacity building, with particular interest in drone technology.
Ambassador Yu reaffirmed China’s readiness to deepen security cooperation and identified manufacturing and power development as additional promising sectors.
The Chinese Ambassador also pointed to the power sector, especially renewable energy, as a key area for cooperation. He noted the presence of leading Chinese power companies in Nigeria and emphasized the critical role of reliable electricity supply in industrialization.
China expressed willingness to support Nigeria’s efforts to expand electricity generation and renewable energy capacity.
Discussions further covered Nigeria’s potential membership in the Global Artificial Intelligence Organization. Ambassador Yu encouraged Nigeria to join, highlighting opportunities for AI research, training, capacity building, and laboratory establishment. Ambassador Dunoma indicated that this proposal would be pursued with relevant authorities.
The meeting reaffirmed Nigeria’s firm stance on the Taiwan issue, with Ambassador Yu appreciating Nigeria’s adherence to the One-China Policy and urging continued sensitization of government agencies to maintain consistent official engagements.
He also thanked Nigerian authorities for the security arrangements around the Chinese Embassy in Abuja and requested ongoing coordination and support.
Transportation was identified as another promising sector for enhanced Nigeria-China cooperation.
Both sides reiterated their commitment to translating the Nigeria-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership into concrete economic and developmental outcomes. They agreed to sustain consultations on trade, investment, manufacturing, energy, agriculture, mining, digital technology, artificial intelligence, security, and infrastructure.
Follow-up actions will include the implementation of the RMB 200 million grant, promotion of Nigerian exports under the zero-tariff arrangement, enhanced security cooperation, Nigeria’s participation in the Global Artificial Intelligence Organization, and increased Chinese investment in Nigeria’s priority sectors.
