Republic of Congo President Denis Sassou Nguesso left Brazzaville over the weekend for a state visit to China, between July 4 to 8, on invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping.

This visit to China is the second of its kind by Sassou Nguesso within a space of three years and his first outside the African continent since his election in March 2016.

Sino-Congolese cooperation grew stronger following the visits by Xi and Sassou-Nguesso in the two respective countries, especially Xi's 2013 visit to Brazzaville and Sassou-Nguesso's visit to China in June 2014.

The visits enabled the two countries to sign cooperation agreements in various sectors such as construction of basic infrastructure, environmental protection, health, education, sports and culture.

The Republic of Congo is China's sixth commercial partner in Africa.

The country, currently facing a difficult financial situation due to the drop in oil prices which is its main source of revenue, is seeking additional aid to stabilize the economy.

(Xinhua News Agency July 4, 2016)