LIBREVILLE, Feb. 26 (ChinaMil) -- Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba met with the visiting Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Gen. Chang Wanquan at the presidential palace in Libreville on Feb. 23.
Bongo said that Gabon and China hold similar positions on major international and regional issues, Gabon sincerely congratulates China on its increasingly important role in the world arena and highly appreciates China’s valuable long-term support.
The Gabonese side firmly follows a friendly policy towards China, and is willing to work with China to deepen friendly cooperation in various fields, Bongo said. He welcomes China's active participation in the development of Gabon and hopes the two countries to further strengthen defense cooperation, jointly cope with regional security challenges and push the relations between the two armed forces to a new height.
Chang said that the China-Gabon comprehensive cooperative partnership jointly promoted by the heads of state of the two countries has pointed out the direction for and injected impetus into the development of bilateral relations. In recent years, the two countries have witnessed smooth development of military-to-military relations with continuously improved cooperation, Chang added.
The Chinese military is willing to work with the Gabonese military to actively implement the consensus reached by the heads of state of the two countries, further strengthen pragmatic cooperation in the areas of high-level exchange of visits, military training and medical service, continuously promoting the development of the China-Gabon partnership of all-round cooperation and jointly protecting regional peace and stability, the Chinese defense chief said.
Gabonese Prime Minister Emmanuel Issoze Ngondet met with Chang on Feb. 24. Gabonese Defense Minister Etienne Massard Kabinda Makaga held a working meeting with his Chinese counterpart on Sunday, and before their meeting, Massard held a welcoming ceremony for Chang.
Chinese ambassador to Gabon Hu Changchun, and Liu Sheng, deputy director of the Equipment Development Department under China's Central Military Commission (CMC), attended the above activities.
