- Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Yu Dunhai
President Donald Trump’s recent tariff imposition on imports from across the world is an opportunity for Nigeria and China to deepen bilateral cooperation, Chinese envoy, Yu Dunhai, has said.
Dunhai told a forum in Abuja that the trade war, which has China as a primary target as the world’s largest market, would create more chances for Nigeria and other African countries to export more goods to China than before.
He disclosed that both countries have an agreement on the export of Nigerian peanuts to China, and were currently working on two other agreements – on soybeans and aqua products.
“We also would like to have Nigerian oil exported to China because currently, I have seen only a very small portion of oil in the export of Nigerian products to China. So, I see a huge potential for the trade between our two countries,” Dunhai said.
The envoy projected a trade volume increase between both countries this year following the high tariffs, while listing investment as the second area of cooperation.
Citing Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, he noted that many entrepreneurs, particularly the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), would be affected by the impact and uncertainty created by the U.S. tariffs.
Meanwhile, against the global apprehension over imminent recession, Dunhai sees positive implications due to most African countries’ inherent opportunities to switch trade partners and destinations.
“It also provides some opportunities for China and African countries, including Nigeria, with both having agreed last year to elevate their bilateral relations to a comprehensive, strategic relations, with over a dozen corporate documents already signed.
“Since my arrival as ambassador, I have seen several big projects that have landed in Nigeria, each worth roughly $1 billion,” Dunhai said. “For China, we believe that Nigeria is a big market with its over 200 million population. Therefore, we would like to have more Chinese investments.
“As a matter of fact, many Chinese entrepreneurs came to Nigeria in the past few months to identify, discuss to explore potential opportunities for investments in so many areas, including renewable energy, agriculture and manufacturing.”
“I see a huge potential for more investments, which will contribute to industrialisation and agricultural modernisation in Nigeria.
“On infrastructure, Nigeria has remained China’s largest engineering contract partner in Africa. So, I believe that in the future, we will see more cooperation in infrastructure because, as a developing country, China sees the key role played by infrastructure. It improves connectivity, convenience, efficiency, as well as boost the environment and economy.
Meanwhile, Dunhai condemned the United States’ mindset of “might makes right” and “America First” as actions that lead to unilateral bullying and indiscriminate imposition of tariffs while disregarding multilateral rules.
He noted that the U.S. openly places its own interests above the common interests of the international society and flagrantly disregards the multilateral trading system and established rules, while promoting a law-of-the-jungle approach, which is clearly turning back the wheel of history.”
According to him, the U.S.’ actions severely infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of other countries, violated the World Trade Organisation’s rules, undermined the rules-based multilateral trading system and destabilised the global economic order.
