Sino-Beninese cooperative partnership advances smoothly

The cooperative partnership between China and Benin has developed smoothly and turned out to be productive since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations in 1972.

China, also a developing country, has become one of Benin's most important partners in various areas, including economy, culture, education and health.

China has rendered more than 100 billion CFA Francs (about 180 million U.S. dollars) in aid to the West African country since 1972, which is the key source of fund to more than 30 projects in agriculture, industry and public infrastructure.

Meanwhile, China has also been playing an active role in offering aid in education and personnel training to the country. Chinese Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, and the Commerce Ministry in particular have cooperative programs on professional training for West African countries including Benin.

Now a larger number of Beninese are enrolled in a wide range of training programs in China. In 2005, up to 92 Beninese went to China and began to be trained there.

In the area of health, China has sent a total of 380 medical workers to four separate hospitals in Benin since 1978. Statistics showed that Chinese doctors have treated more than 500,000 outpatients, and performed more than 50,000 surgical operations. A large number of patients have benefited from the program.

In recent years, China has become Benin's second biggest export market. The value of Benin's exports to China reached 111 million U.S. dollars in 2004, up from 17 million dollars in 2002. Benin has benefited from a trade surplus since 2003.

Source: Xinhua