On June 2, Director-General of the Department of African Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lin Songtian met with the press delegation of Madagascar led by Director-General of the Radio and Television Broadcasting Office of Madagascar.

Lin Songtian said that President Hery Rajaonarimampianina successfully visited China this March, during which the two heads of state reached the important consensus on comprehensively developing China-Madagascar relations, opening up a new chapter for China-Madagascar friendly and mutual-beneficial cooperation. The Chinese side is willing to work together with Madagascar to make use of the complementary advantages, align the development strategies, focus on supporting the Madagascan side in three major areas of infrastructure construction, human resource development and investment and trade facilitation, and conduct mutually beneficial cooperation on the four major industries including agriculture, maritime economy, processing and manufacturing, and tourism services. Lin Songtian also presented President Xi Jinping's new concept and new principles of the policies towards Africa, the significance of the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the “Belt and Road” initiative, and the successful experience of China' reform and opening-up. Besides, Lin Songtian exchanged views with the delegation over the topics on media cooperation and people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two countries.

The delegation spoke highly of China’s policies and principles towards Africa and its sincere assistance to Madagascar and other African countries, and congratulated China on the significant development achievements China has made. The delegation expressed that the visit to China this time is conducive to the Madagascan press to have in-depth knowledge on China. The press should give full play to the unique role of the media for a continuous enhancement of the mutual understanding between the Madagascan and Chinese people, so as to continuously make new contributions to promoting the friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation between Madagascar and China.

At the invitation of All-China Journalists' Association, the delegation visited China, during which the delegation will visit Beijing, Fujian and Guangdong, and interacted with relevant Chinese departments.