Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, who is in Beijing for the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 3, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday met with Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, who is in Beijing for the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

The two leaders jointly announced the elevation of bilateral relations to a strategic partnership.

China and Chad have engaged in mutually beneficial cooperation and achieved substantial results under frameworks such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the FOCAC, Xi said.

China has been Chad's largest trading and investment partner for years, and their pragmatic cooperation has improved the well-being of both peoples, said Xi, adding that China is willing to further synergize development strategies with Chad and push for new progress in bilateral relations.

Xi said China highly appreciates Chad's staunch support on issues involving China's core interests and major concerns, noting that China will always support Chad in pursuing an independent development path and safeguarding its national sovereignty, security and development interests.

The two countries should strengthen exchanges, broaden consensus, consolidate political mutual trust and support each other firmly. Both sides should pursue win-win results and deepen pragmatic cooperation, he added.

China welcomes Chad to make good use of the outcomes of this FOCAC summit, deepen bilateral economic and trade cooperation, enhance its capacity for self-development and realize common development, Xi said.

President Deby said that, based on mutual respect and mutual benefit, Chad-China cooperation has yielded fruitful results. He also expressed his gratitude for China's valuable assistance to Chad's economic and social development, saying that the Chadian side remains firmly committed to further deepening friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation with China.

He said that China's continued development will bring more opportunities for the development of Chad, Africa, and the world at large.

He stressed that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory, and Chad will continue to firmly abide by the one-China principle.

During the summit, China and Chad will sign bilateral cooperation documents in areas such as implementing the Global Development Initiative, human resource development, peanut and sesame exports to China, and news media.