Jump to content

China–Mauritania relations

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mauritania-China relations
Map indicating locations of Mauritania and China

Mauritania
China
Diplomatic mission
Mauritanian embassy, BeijingChinese embassy, Nouakchott

China–Mauritania relations refer to the bilateral relations between China and Mauritania. China and Mauritania established diplomatic relations on July 19, 1965.[1]: 347 China has an embassy in Nouakchott. Mauritania has an embassy in Beijing.

History

[edit]

The government of Mauritania enjoys close ties with the government of the People's Republic of China. In recent years, they have signed a series of agreements and exchanged a series of diplomatic gestures that have strengthened their relationship.

President Moktar Ould Daddah and Premier Zhou Enlai tour Beijing Capital Steel Factory in 1967.

The Chinese government has recently shown particular interest in Mauritania's oil deposits. Oil production in Mauritania began in February 2006, and by May of the same year the Chinese and Mauritanian governments signed an agreement on social and economic cooperation.[2] In October 2006, the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation began drilling oil wells in Mauritania, and has three other prospecting permits in Mauritania.[3] The Mauritanian government sees oil production as a significant means of boosting economic growth.

During the campaign for Mauritania's presidential elections in March 2007, candidate Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi praised Mauritania's growing ties with China, promising to "continue the path of strengthening the bilateral relations with all my efforts".[4]

Human rights

[edit]

In June 2020, Mauritania was one of 53 countries that backed the Hong Kong national security law at the United Nations.[5]

Chinese development finance to Mauritania

[edit]

In 1977, China and Mauritania signed an agreement for China to provide Mauritania with an interest free loan over US$150 million and to build Mauritania's Friendship Port of Nouakchott.[6]: 39–40  China completed the port and gave control of it to Mauritania in July 1986, making it Mauritania's first deep-water port.[6]: 40  At the time, it was the second largest Chinese foreign aid project.[6]: 40  China also provided Mauritania with other financing for transportation infrastructure over the course of the 1970s and 1980s.[6]: 40 

From 2000 to 2012, there are approximately 15 Chinese official development finance projects identified in Mauritania through various media reports.[7] These projects range from extending the Nouakchott Port by 900 meters through a preferential loan of 2 billion Chinese yuan from China's Ex-Im Bank,[8] to a loan of US$136 million from Chinese government to construct a new international airport at Nouakchott.[9]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Shinn, David H.; Eisenman, Joshua (2023). China's Relations with Africa: a New Era of Strategic Engagement. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-21001-0.
  2. ^ "China, Mauritania sign $2mn co-operation deal". BusinessinAfrica.net. South African Press Association; Agence France-Presse. 22 May 2006. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007.
  3. ^ "Chinese national oil firm prospecting for onshore oil in Mauritania". University of Alberta. Agence France-Presse. 16 October 2006. Archived from the original on 2009-03-13. Retrieved 7 March 2009.
  4. ^ "Mauritania's presidential candidates hail ties with China". People's Daily. 12 March 2007. Retrieved 7 March 2009.
  5. ^ Lawler, Dave (2 July 2020). "The 53 countries supporting China's crackdown on Hong Kong". Axios. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d Strange, Austin (2023-12-21). Chinese Global Infrastructure (EPUB). Elements in Global China. Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781009090902. ISBN 978-1-009-09090-2.
  7. ^ Austin Strange, Bradley C. Parks, Michael J. Tierney, Andreas Fuchs, Axel Dreher, and Vijaya Ramachandran. 2013. China’s Development Finance to Africa: A Media-Based Approach to Data Collection. CGD Working Paper 323. Washington DC: Center for Global Development.[1]
  8. ^ Strange, Parks, Tierney, Fuchs, Dreher, and Ramachandran, China’s Development Finance to Africa: A Media-Based Approach to Data Collection.http://aiddatachina.org/projects/3
  9. ^ Strange, Parks, Tierney, Fuchs, Dreher, and Ramachandran, China’s Development Finance to Africa: A Media-Based Approach to Data Collection.http://aiddatachina.org/projects/168
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=China–Mauritania_relations&oldid=1251271550"