Chinese Ambassador to Tunisia Wang Wenbin (L) met with Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed on Aug. 24, 2018 in Tunis, capital of Tunisia. (Xinhua/Adele Ezzine)
TUNIS, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be an important opportunity to deepen the Sino-African cooperation, including the China-Tunisia relations, Chinese Ambassador to Tunisia Wang Wenbin said in a recent interview with Xinhua.
The Tunisian government attaches great importance to the summit, as Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed will lead a delegation to Beijing to attend the event scheduled on Sept. 3-4, Wang said.
"During my meeting with Chahed on Friday, he said the Tunisian government and Tunisian people fully support the FOCAC Beijing summit and believe it will be a big success," the Chinese envoy said.
Wang noted that the FOCAC Beijing summit would bring leaders of the two countries together to strengthen high-level exchanges, enhance political mutual trust, and promote mutually beneficial cooperation.
He said Tunisia actively supports the Belt and Road Initiative as the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on the initiative in July.
The initiative, proposed by China in 2013, aims to build a trade and infrastructure network that connects Asia with Africa and Europe along the ancient trade routes of the Silk Road.
Wang pointed to the geographic advantage owned by Tunisia, which has signed free trade agreements with European and African countries.
"Tunisia hopes to become a pivot in the Belt and Road Initiative in North Africa, as well as a springboard for Chinese companies to expand their businesses in Europe and Africa," Wang said.
He also highlighted the various fields of cooperation between the two countries, including tourism, infrastructure, trade and people-to-people communication.
Wang said the China-Tunisia ties have enjoyed healthy and stable development since their establishment 54 years ago, which has laid a solid foundation for strengthening the mutually beneficial cooperation.
The 2018 FOCAC Beijing summit will be held under the theme of "China and Africa: toward an even stronger community with a shared future through win-win cooperation."
Leaders of FOCAC members have been invited to attend the summit, as well as representatives of related regional organizations in Africa and international organizations.