A. General picture of the bilateral relations between China& the Congo(Brazzaville)

On February 22, 1964, the People's Republic of Chinaestablished diplomatic relations with the Republic of Congo (B) and since then it has seen a favorable development of the friendly relations between the two countries.

Leaders and officials who visited China from the Congo (B) include: Alphonse Massamba-Debat, President (September 1964), Andre George Mouyabi, Speaker of the National Assembly (August 1966), Ambroise Noumazalay, Prime minister (September 1967), Alfred Raoul, Prime minister (September 1969), Marien Ngouabi, President (July 1973), Henri Lopez, Prime minister (February 1975), Louis Sylvain Goma, Prime minister (June 1977), Jaques Joachim Yhomby-Opango, President (May 1978), Pascal Lissouba, President (May 1994), Denis Sassou-Nguesso, President (July 1980, April 1987, March 2000 visited China for 3 times) and Koumba Justin, Speaker of the National Assembly (January 2000), etc.

Chinese leaders and officials who visited the Congo (B) mainly include: Geng Biao, Vice-premier of the State Council (October 1978), Zhao Ziyang, Premier (January 1983), Li Tieying, Member of the State Council and Director-general of the National Commission for Education (November 1989), Qian Qichen, Vice-premier and concurrently minister of foreign affairs (January 1995), Bu He, Vice-chairman of the NPC standing committee (November 1997), and Yang Wenchang, Vice-minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (April 2001), Tang Jiaxuan, Minister of Ministry of Foreign Affairs (January 2003), etc.

B. Bilateral economy and trade relations and economic and technological cooperation

Ever since the establishment of the diplomatic relations China provided the Congo (B) with some economic aids, undertaking such sets of project as the stadium, broadcasting station, assembly building, textile mill, hospital and hydropower station and so on. During the civil war of 1997, the projects aided by Chinasuspended for some time. Now they are being gradually restored.

Starting from 1982, Chinabegan to take up workforce contracts and has achieved better results. The trade between Chinaand the Congo (B) has witnessed a quicker development in recent years and from 2001, Chinastarted to import crude oil directly from the Congo (B). The year of 2002 saw the trade value of the two countries reach US$ 290.92 million, of which the Chinese export took up US$ 39.61 million while the import was US$ 251.31 million.

C. Other exchanges

In September 1964, the two governments of Chinaand the Congo (B) signed an agreement for cultural cooperation. In July 1980 and March 2000, the two sides twice renewed the cultural agreement of the two countries. Starting from 1975, Chinabegan to provide the Congo(B) with quotas of scholarship for higher education. And for the moment the students from the Congo(B) who are now studying in Chinacome to 34 in all.

From 1966 to 1997, the medical teams Chinasent to the Congo (B) came to 15 batches. But when the civil war broke out in 1997 Chinawithdrew its medical teams which were resumed in 2000. Now there are 22 medical personnel working in the Congo (B).

D. Important bilateral agreement

"Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of the Diplomatic Relations between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of the Congo(Brazzaville) "(February 22, 1964)