By Sarafina Christopher, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
Observers say that China–Nigeria diplomatic relations recorded significant consolidation in 2025.
The two countries’ engagements in 2025, they noted, have laid a solid foundation for sustained, healthy, and stable development of bilateral relations, going forward.
During the year under review, bilateral cooperation in trade, investment, infrastructure, culture and people-to-people exchange delivered tangible outcomes.
These outcomes have reinforced the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between both countries.
Over the past year, exchanges and visits at the local level became more frequent, injecting continuous momentum into bilateral relations.
The two sides consistently supported each other on issues concerning core interests and major concerns such as sovereignty and territorial integrity.
China supported Nigeria’s efforts to safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests, as well as to promote economic growth and improve people’s livelihoods.
Nigeria firmly adhered to the One-China principle and steadfastly supports the Chinese government’s endeavors to achieve national reunification.
In the areas of trade, China-Nigeria trade has grown steadily, and investment and construction cooperation have been upgraded in both scale and quality.
In the first ten months of 2025, bilateral trade reached 22.3 billion U.S. dollars, surpassing the total trade volume of 2024 and representing a year-on-year increase of over 30 per cent.
China’s direct investment in Nigeria amounted to 670 million dollars, up 130 per cent year-on-year, demonstrating the strong resilience and broad prospects of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.
Cooperation on major projects also advanced steadily with positive outcomes.
The Greater Abuja Water Supply Project has, for instance, been successfully completed.
This has effectively addressed safe water access for nearly three million residents in Abuja and significantly improving local living conditions.
The Kano-Kaduna Railway Project has secured full financing disbursement, as over half of the construction has been completed.
This has laid a solid foundation for enhancing Nigeria’s transport connectivity and promoting regional economic integration.
Over the past year, people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and Nigeria have continued to deepen, with a series of activities delivering highlights.
The Chinese language teaching and China introduction programme: “Nihao! China,” was officially launched on the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, airing over 20 episodes, each reaching millions of listeners.
Brand cultural events such as the “Happy Chinese New Year Temple Fair” and “Tea for Harmony: Yaji Cultural Salon,” have gained wide recognition and are warmly welcomed by local communities.
The number of “China Corners” established in public senior secondary schools in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory increased to 15.
These have served as important windows for Nigerian youth to learn about Chinese culture and broaden their global perspectives.
The number of Nigerian students in China has exceeded 5,000.
The students are gaining a deeper understanding of China and actively showcasing Nigeria’s excellent culture to the Chinese people.
These friendly exchanges between the two countries have made the students Nigerian envoys of sort.
Such efforts have vividly illustrated the growing mutual understanding and deepening traditional friendship between the two peoples.
Over the past year, the armed forces of the two countries maintained frequent exchanges and steadily deepened practical cooperation.
Former Nigerian Minister of Defence Mohammed Badaru, for instance, attended the Beijing Xiangshan Forum.
Badaru delivered a keynote speech and engaged in close interactions with Chinese and foreign military leaders, further enhancing mutual friendship.
Nigeria’s House of Representatives Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, also led a high-level delegation to the 8th China International Import-Expo (CIIE), and held talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
The Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Hu Chunhua also paid a successful visit to Nigeria.
Chinese delegations visited Nigeria to attend the African Air Forces Forum and met with the former Chief of the Air Staff of Nigeria to strengthen consultations on promoting exchanges between the two nations’ air forces.
Within the year, the number of Nigerian military personnel participating in training programmes in Chinese institutions nearly doubled.
These involved officers from multiple services and various levels, including the army, navy, and air force, aimed at enhancing the professionalism of the Nigerian military.
China also provided equipment to the Nigerian military and security agencies to support efforts in combating terrorist threats and criminal activities, and maintenance of social stability.
The personnel exchanges between China and Nigeria became increasingly close, with growing interactions.
Nigerian citizens continued to show strong enthusiasm for conducting business, working, and studying in China.
The number of Chinese citizens engaging in commerce, investment, and work in Nigeria rose over the year.
In 2025, Chinese diplomatic and consular missions in Nigeria introduced a series of visa facilitation measures, including online applications, exemption from fingerprint collection, and fee reductions.
Over 55,000 visas were processed throughout the year, representing an increase of nearly 45 per cent in visa services compared to the preceding year.
These efforts facilitated personnel exchanges between the two countries.
They also made positive contributions to job creation, talent development, infrastructure improvement, and the enhancement of people’s livelihoods in Nigeria.
According to the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Yu Dunhai, 2025 was a crucial year for the development of China-Nigeria relations.
He noted that following Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu’s state visit to China in September 2025, the growth of China-Nigeria comprehensive strategic partnership entered a “fast lane.”
Yu said the strategic guidance of the two countries’ presidents, and all-round cooperation between the two countries yielded remarkable outcomes, delivering tangible benefits to their peoples.
The Chinese envoy said that over the past year, China and Nigeria maintained close high-level exchanges and continuously strengthened political mutual trust.
He said: “In January 2025, Foreign Minister Wang Yi made Nigeria the first stop of his 35th consecutive annual visit to Africa, meeting with President Bola Tinubu and holding talks with Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar.
“The two foreign ministers met three times during the year; they also met in Brazil, jointly sending a strong message upholding multilateralism and justice.
“In June, on the sidelines of the Coordinators’ Meeting on the Implementation of the Follow-up Actions of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the two foreign ministers held their third meeting, further solidifying consensus between the two countries.
Development cooperation has always been a key pillar of China-Nigeria collaboration, with notable achievements recorded in human resources development and capacity building.
In 2025 alone, China organised various short-term training programmes in China, in which more than 2,000 Nigerian officials, scholars, and technical professionals participated.
This made Nigeria the country with the largest number of trainees receiving Chinese training globally.
The training covers areas such as governance experience sharing, poverty reduction, manufacturing, agriculture, public health, trade and investment, scientific and technological innovation.
Others are the blue economy, and the digital economy, all closely aligned with Nigeria’s national development needs and contributing to its economic and social progress.
During their training in China, participants gained in-depth understanding of China’s practices and experience in poverty reduction and development.
Many expressed their willingness to conduct research tailored to Nigeria’s national conditions and promote the localised application of relevant experience.
For example, after systematically studying agricultural irrigation techniques in China, agricultural experts from northern Nigerian state governments compiled their learnings into manuals.
These manuals have provided practical solutions to address local agricultural drought challenges.
Also, through platforms such as Chinese Government Scholarships, Confucius Institutes, Luban Workshops, and Silk Road Crafts Institutes, China has continued to provide learning and advanced training opportunities for Nigerian youth and professionals.
These have steadily strengthened the public support and talent foundation for the friendly cooperation between China and Nigeria.
2026 marks the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Nigeria, the China-Africa Year of People-to-People and Cultural Exchanges, and the beginning of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan.
Yu pledged that China would always maintain close communication with Nigeria, enhance strategic coordination, expand all-round cooperation, achieve more mutual benefits, and advance the China-Nigeria comprehensive strategic partnership to new heights.
He said that China was ready to work actively with Nigeria to implement the outcomes of the Beijing Summit and promote the implementation of its”Ten Cooperation Plans” in Nigeria.
Going forward, he said China would support Nigeria in playing a greater role in international and regional affairs.
He said that China was also willing to strengthen coordination and cooperation with Nigeria within multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation, and BRICS.
Yu explained that this would promote solidarity and strength among the Global South, advance global multipolarity and economic globalisation, and build a more just and equitable global governance system.
“We are ready to align our respective development strengths with Nigeria, elevate cooperation in areas such as trade, investment, agriculture, mining, infrastructure, and people’s livelihoods, and expand collaboration in emerging industries such as clean energy, electric vehicles, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology,” he said.
The Chinese envoy said China would also promote the early implementation of zero-tariff measures in Nigeria and provide greater market access and competitive advantages for high-quality Nigerian products entering the Chinese market.
He said that his country would continue organising cultural exchange events such as the “China-Nigeria Food Carnival” and “China-Nigeria Film Week” to showcase the unique charm and mutual integration of the two countries’ cultures.
Yu added that his country would continue providing short-term training opportunities in China for outstanding Nigerian talents in culture, tourism, education, and other fields.
China, he said, would also be supporting Nigeria’s modernisation drive and the cause of bilateral friendship through talent cultivation and experience sharing.
According to him, China is ready to enhance high-level mutual assistance with Nigeria, strengthen cooperation between their security departments, and support Nigeria in improving its military capabilities in technology, equipment, and intelligence.
The envoy explained that this would go a long way to safeguard national sovereignty and security interests, and effectively address domestic, regional, and international challenges, both traditional and non-traditional.
“We look forward to increased high-level exchanges between our militaries and security agencies to provide direction for relevant cooperation,” he emphasised.
The ambassador said China would leverage the 70th anniversary of the Nigerian Navy to promote more professional interactions between the two navies and welcome more Nigerian officers to study in Chinese military institutions.
He said that China would continue to optimise visa facilitation policies, help the Nigerian public better understand and utilise relevant arrangements, as well as improve consular document services.
It is noteworthy that the year 2026 is the Year of the Horse in the Chinese lunar calendar.
In Chinese culture, the horse symbolises galloping forward, gaining success with every step, and achieving even greater accomplishments.
Yu expressed confidence that in the new year, the China-Nigeria comprehensive strategic partnership would reach a higher level through their joint efforts
He added that deepening partnership with Nigeria would write a more splendid chapter in building a high-level China-Nigeria community with a shared future.
Analysts say that with development cooperation being the key pillar of China-Nigeria relations, the notable achievements recorded in 2025 will deepen and strengthen bilateral ties between the two countries, going forward.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Mark Longyen
