Chinese President Xi Jinping meets Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba on September 1, 2018, before the opening of the FOCAC Beijing Summit (PANG XINGLEI)

April 4 marked the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Gabon established in 1974. There has been a steady growth in the bilateral relations during this period. In an exclusive interview with ChinAfrica, Hu Changchun, Chinese Ambassador to Gabon, shared his views on China's relations with the Central African country. This is an edited excerpt from the interview:

ChinAfrica: What are the highlights of the relationship between China and Gabon?

Hu Changchun: The past 45 years have seen the friendship withstand various challenges in a changing world and develop into a comprehensive cooperative partnership, benefiting the people of both countries. Some of the highlights of the bilateral relationship are:

Enduring friendship and enhanced mutual trust. China has been promoting solidarity and cooperation with Gabon based on the principles of sincerity, friendship, equality and non-interference into internal affairs. The two countries support each other on issues involving each other's core interests and major concerns. China has contributed to Gabon's development by constructing the building of the National Assembly, hospitals, stadiums, hydropower stations and roads.

The brotherly relationship was also reflected in how Gabon responded when an earthquake struck some counties in Sichuan Province in southwest China in 2008. Gabon immediately donated $500,000.

In December 2016, during Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba's state visit to China, he and his counterpart Xi Jinping decided to upgrade the Sino-Gabonese relationship to a comprehensive cooperative partnership, which injected new energy for the development of bilateral relations. President Bongo was also one of the first African leaders to confirm he would attend the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

The recent years have seen frequent bilateral exchanges in all fields and at all levels, fast development of comprehensive cooperation, and renewed vitality in the traditional friendship.

China's hospital ship Peace Ark visits Gabon in October 2017 (XINHUA)

Highly complementary economies with aligned development strategies. Rich in natural resources, Gabon is known as a "country of green gold" and an "oasis of peace" in Central Africa. It is highly open to the outside world and attaches great importance to environmental protection. It is committed to sustainable development and is accelerating economic diversification with the Emerging Gabon Strategic Plan, which is fully in line with China's vision of innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development, and the eight initiatives for China-Africa cooperation put forward at the FOCAC Beijing Summit in 2018.

The two countries' related departments are making plans and coordinating with each other to implement the consensus of the leaders and the outcomes of the FOCAC Beijing Summit. Cooperation between the two complementary economies has been fruitful. China has been Gabon's largest trading partner for five consecutive years and an important investor with productive cooperation in infrastructure construction, energy, deep processing of timber, fishery and human resource training. China will, as always, be a sincere partner for Gabon in its implementation of the Emerging Gabon Strategic Plan and further tap the potential of cooperation based on the principle of mutual benefit.

Broad consensus on international affairs. Both China and Gabon advocate relations based on peace, harmony, equality and consultation, respect the choice a country makes regarding its development path and mode, and advocate strengthened dialogue among different civilizations. We call on all countries to work in concert toward a community with a shared future for humanity, an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security and common prosperity, and a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness, justice and win-win cooperation for world peace and development.

We follow the principle of achieving shared benefits through consultation and collaboration in global governance. We are committed to making economic globalization more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all. We uphold multilateralism and oppose all forms of unilateralism and protectionism, and support a World Trade Organization-centered, rules-based multilateral trading regime that is transparent, non-discriminatory, open and inclusive. China appreciates Gabon's contribution to peace, stability and green development in Africa. The two countries have maintained close cooperation in the United Nations and other multilateral organizations, and have safeguarded the common interests of developing countries with intensified consultation and coordination on major international and regional issues.

People-to-people exchanges consolidating friendship. In 2017, China's hospital ship Peace Ark visited Gabon for the first time and provided free medical services to more than 6,000 locals. In 2018, the two countries jointly held the Happy Spring Festival celebration in Gabonese capital Libreville, and the

Chinese Ambassador's Cup table tennis tournament saw more participants. The Wenhui Bookstore and the Chinese Cultural Salon in Gabon have enabled Gabonese students to experience Chinese culture firsthand. At the end of 2018, Gabon's first Confucius Institute opened at the Omar Bongo University in Libreville, boosting the local enthusiasm for the Chinese language.

Thanks to a growing interest in China, Gabon's media has been sending resident correspondents and press corps to China for in-depth reporting. China has become one of the first choices for Gabonese students to study abroad. These students bring information about the real situation in China and the friendship of the Chinese back to Gabon, which deepens the understanding between the two peoples, especially the younger generations.

China is currently Gabon's largest trading partner, but how about China's investment in Gabon? In which areas can the two countries strengthen trade and economic cooperation?

Trade between China and Gabon has been growing. Bilateral trade in 2018 reached a record high of $3.37 billion, a 22.8-percent increase year on year. China is an important source of investment for Gabon, and China's investment plays an important role in areas such as energy, forestry development, timber processing, fishery and the service sector.

The investment is still growing, with more and more Chinese enterprises seeking cooperation opportunities in the country. In addition to the traditional areas of cooperation, there is great potential in emerging areas such as environmental protection, new energy, scientific and technological cooperation, eco-tourism and e-commerce.

At the FOCAC Beijing Summit last year, the Chinese Government proposed eight initiatives for China-Africa cooperation. In which areas should China and Gabon strengthen cooperation?

President Xi announced at the summit that China and Africa will jointly launch eight major initiatives. These are an industrial promotion initiative, an infrastructure connectivity initiative, a trade facilitation initiative, a green development initiative, a capacity-building initiative, a healthcare initiative, a people-to-people exchange initiative and a peace and security initiative. This is a blueprint for the development of China-Africa relations.

China and Gabon have established a mechanism for implementing the eight initiatives and preliminary agreements have been reached on cooperation projects and action plans. There are concrete projects including large-scale infrastructure construction, investment and financing cooperation, training, healthcare, environmental protection and projects involving people's livelihood. China also supports Gabon to play a greater role in maintaining peace and security in Africa.

To implement the eight initiatives, we have followed the principle of sincerity, real results, affinity and good faith and the principle of pursuing the greater good and shared interests advocated by President Xi. In addition to projects with good economic benefits and social impact that can drive local development, it is important to help Gabon build its abilities and achieve green and sustainable development. This will contribute to further development of bilateral cooperation and greater benefits for the peoples of the two countries.

(Comments to niyanshuo@chinafrica.cn)