BEIJING, May 27 -- Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister General Li Shangfu met with Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Vice Prime Minister and Defense Minister Jean-Pierre Bemba in Beijing on May 27.
Gen. Li said that President Xi Jinping and President Tshisekedi had announced the elevation of the bilateral relationship from a strategic partnership of win-win cooperation to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, and reached a series of important consensuses on deepening bilateral cooperation in various fields in the next stage, bringing the bilateral ties to a new level. The two sides should take this opportunity to earnestly implement the consensuses reached by the two heads of state and join hands to make new contributions to China-DRC friendly cooperation.
He pointed out that, in recent years, solid progress has been made in the cooperation between the two militaries in high-level exchanges, personnel training and mechanism building. China will continue to provide assistance to the DRC in building its national defense and armed forces, and further step up military cooperation.
Bemba thanked China for its support to the DRC's national defense and military development. He said that under the guidance and promotion of the two heads of state, the friendly relations between the two militaries have become increasingly close, and practical cooperation in various fields has yielded fruitful results. The DRC's military is willing to support each other and deepen cooperation with the Chinese side to jointly push the friendly relations and cooperation between the two militaries to a new stage.