Cui Jianchun, the Ambassador of the Peoples Republic of China to Nigeria, has said that China was ready to work with Nigeria to develop her value-added industries, boost exports and grow the economy.
Cui gave the pledge on Wednesday, in Abuja, at a scholarship awarding ceremony by the Embassy to some students of the University of Abuja.
According to Cui, developing Nigeria’s industries to promote exports was one of the embassy’s strategies, under his administration.
He explained that his Five GIST strategies; political consonance, economic cooperation, military and security collaboration and international relations was a holistic approach to developing mutual relationships and synergetic effects between both countries.
“We need value-added industries, I know this is the dream of the Nigerian people, how can we have our own value-added industry?.
“This Monday I talked to the first lady and she told me that in Nigeria we have cassava, the product is in the UK and Nigeria has to import Nigerian Cassava from the UK.
“And she asked me if there is a possibility that we can have the machine to have our processed cassava products to export to the international market. So, we need a value-added industry.
“I hope that more products, more commodities could go to the Chinese market because the middle class in China is over 400 million, larger than the U.S population.
“So, do not let people make you think that U.S is the number one consumption market. We believe that in the coming ten years, we could produce more in Nigeria and export to the Chinese market,” Cui said
Cui said that recently, China hosted an International Import/Export summit in Shanghai where the Nigeria Consular General in Shanghai also participated.
On the award ceremony, Cui said that the scholarship was aimed at encouraging the students, as they play a critical role in the development of every society.
“We believe that it is important for the Chinese Embassy to find a way to develop Abuja University.
“We believe that we can do things better to make a difference, so, this award is a little incentive to the students, encouraging you to spend your spare time to gather information and study Chinese history,” Cui said.
Prof. Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah, the Vice Chancellor, University of Abuja, expressed appreciation to the Chinese government and all it was doing through its Embassy in Nigeria.
Na’Allah said that the Chinese Embassy had done a lot towards the development of Nigeria and the University, while urging the recipients of the scholarships to be committed to their studies, be of good behaviour and also in turn, contribute to the advancement of humanity.
“It is indeed another great occasion for the University of Abuja, following the exceptional support that this University received last year from the Chinese Embassy.
“The smartest thing for any nation is to invest in young people because young people will grow, they will become leaders, they will find themselves in different aspects of life.
“I am delighted that the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria has decided today that even more students that got from last year will be given scholarships in their different areas of studies.
“I hope that all of you that are benefitting today will have that commitment in your heart. This scholarship is to propel you to be committed to humanity,” Na’Allah said.