Chinese President Xi Jinping and Transitional President of Gabon Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema exchanged congratulatory messages on Saturday over the 50th anniversary of the two countries' diplomatic relations.
In his message, Xi said that China and Gabon enjoy a traditional friendship and the relations between the two countries are time-tested. Over the past 50 years, despite a changing international landscape, China and Gabon have always treated each other as equals and supported each other, and their bilateral relations have been constantly upgraded, bringing tangible benefits to the people of both countries.
Xi stressed that he attaches great importance to the development of China-Gabon relations and stands ready to work with President Nguema to take the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries as a new starting point, carry forward the traditional friendship, deepen pragmatic cooperation between the two countries, enrich the connotation of China-Gabon comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, and jointly build a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future.
Nguema said that over the past 50 years, Gabon and China have trusted each other and treated each other sincerely, and the bilateral relations have developed steadily, yielding fruitful results in economic, social and military cooperation. Gabon firmly adheres to the one-China principle and believes that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory.
He said that Gabon is ready to work with China to continuously consolidate and develop the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries for the benefit of the two peoples.
Xi exchanges congratulations with Gabonese transitional president over 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties
Xi exchanges congratulations with Gabonese transitional president over 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties
Xi exchanges congratulations with Gabonese transitional president over 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties
Xi exchanges congratulations with Gabonese transitional president over 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties
President of the Merieux Foundation Alain Merieux has witnessed the decades of friendship between China and France in his health cooperation with China.
Merieux, also the founding chairman of BioMerieux, is known as one of the "old friends of China" for his great contribution to the development of China's medical and health services.
Chinese President Xi Jinping presented the China reform friendship medal to him in 2018. He also received a certificate of honor numbered 001. The medal and certificate were cherished by him in his office in Lyon, France.
"I am proud to receive the China Reform Friendship Medal from the Chinese government at the conference celebrating the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up on Dec 18, 2018. A total of 3,500 people attended the award ceremony. It was a very grand occasion that left a deep impression on me. I am proud of this achievement. It is a wonderful memory," said Merieux.
In 1978, Merieux came to China for the first time to introduce vaccines to the Chinese scientific community. This trip marked the beginning of his decades-long friendly cooperation with China.
"I was honored to have the opportunity to convene conferences or lectures with my collaborators. The audience was professors, doctors, or veterinarians. The average age of them at that time was around 75 to 85 years old, which is around my current age. This was because there were very few Chinese scientists during that time," he said.
In 1986, during Merieux's tenure as vice-chairman of the Rhone-Alpes Regional Council in France, a cultural and scientific exchange cooperation agreement was signed with Shanghai, further strengthening collaboration in the field of medical and scientific research between China and France. Since then, Merieux and his French colleagues have made frequent trips between China and France.
"I witnessed the rapid development of China during that period and in the subsequent years, and it left a deep impression on me. It completely overturned my views at that time," said Merieux.
BioMerieux has engaged in extensive collaboration with China in areas such as vaccines, medical diagnosis, immunology, and infectious disease prevention and control.
"First is the cooperation in the field of respiratory viruses. Under this framework, we established a laboratory, named after my son when he passed away. I am very grateful to the Chinese government for naming a national laboratory, the Christophe Merieux Laboratory, after my son, which is dedicated to researching respiratory viruses," said Merieux.
Merieux hopes to cooperate with China in a broader field, jointly assisting Africa and other regions to improve the local medical condition and people's health level.
"For the past 20 years, our foundation has been dedicated to helping countries in trouble, particularly those affected by conflicts and insecurity. We have been involved in volunteer work in Haiti for over two decades. I strongly believe in the concept of partnerships. We work with the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. We have established a trilateral cooperation among our foundation, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and the health authorities in Mali. We have maintained this cooperation," said Merieux.
"I sincerely hope that our two countries, China and France, can play important roles in world peace on the occasion of celebrating the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relationship," he said.
Merieux Foundation president witnesses decades of China-France friendship
