On June 24, 2011, Cote d'Ivoire President Alassane Ouattara met with special envoy of the Chinese government & Vice Foreign Minister Zhai Jun in Abidjan.

Zhai conveyed President Hu Jintao's cordial greetings and good wishes to President Ouattara and congratulated the Cote d'Ivoire people on ushering in a new era of peace and rejuvenation under the leadership of President Ouattara. He wished the Cote d'Ivoire government and people would make new achievements on the path to national reconciliation and reconstruction. Zhai said China and Cote d'Ivoire enjoy profound traditional friendship, and both sides have long adhered to the principle of sincerity, friendship, equality and friendly cooperation and their friendly cooperative relations have been developing smoothly. The effective cooperation between both sides in all areas has brought about tangible benefits to both peoples. Under the new situation, China will continue to offer assistance within its ability for Cote d'Ivoire's economic and social development and is ready to join hands with the country to keep closer bilateral friendly exchanges, expand trade cooperation, promote humanities contacts and push the friendly cooperative ties to a higher level.

President Ouattara expressed welcome for Zhai's visit and asked Zhai to convey his regards to President Hu. Ouattara said the Chinese government has always supported Cote d'Ivoire's peace process and played a constructive role in pushing for the resolution of the post-election crisis in the UN Security Council and other international occasions. The Cote d'Ivoire government and people appreciated China for actively supporting and participating in Cote d'Ivoire's peace and reconstruction process. Cote d'Ivoire attaches importance to the sound friendly cooperative relations between the two countries and is ready to work with China to further enhance bilateral pragmatic cooperation in all areas and push the ties for new progress. Ouattara also appreciated China for playing a positive role in international affairs and safeguarding common interests of developing countries.

During his visit, Zhai also called on Cote d'Ivoire Prime Minister Soro and held talks with Cote d'Ivoire's State and Foreign Affaires Minster Duncan, exchanging in-depth views on pushing for all-round development of China-Cote d'Ivoire relations as well as international and regional issues of common concern. Both sides signed the economic and technological cooperation agreement between the two governments and other cooperation documents.