On April 26, 2006, Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in Abuja, capital of Nigeria, kicking off his state visit to this country. This visit is aimed at pushing for further development of bilateral friendly cooperative relations.

During the visit, Hu will hold talks with President Olusegun Okikiola Aremu Obasanjo and meet with Speakers of the Senate and House of Representatives of the Nigerian National Assembly. President Hu will also address the National Assembly of Nigeria, comprehensively expounding China-Africa relations and China's African policy under the new situation.

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between both countries. In recent years, bilateral ties have witnessed momentum of rapid development with frequent exchanges at all levels and mutual political trust enhanced. During his visit to China in April 2005, President Obasanjo reached consensus with Hu on establishing strategic partnership of mutual political trust, mutual economic benefits and mutual assistance in international affairs.

Bilateral cooperation in the areas of agriculture, infrastructure construction, electric power and communications has been conducted vigorously. In 2005, bilateral trade volume reached 2.83 billion US dollars, an increase of 29.6% over the same period of the previous year. Both sides have also conducted effective cooperation in counter-terrorism, peacekeeping operations and other international and regional affairs.

Nigeria is the fourth leg of Hu's current tour and he has visited the United States, Saudi Arabia and Morocco. He will also pay a visit to Kenya.