On March 9, 2017, Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Ming met with visiting First Minister of State for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Mohamed Gibril Sesay of Sierra Leone.

Zhang Ming stated that last year, President Ernest Bai Koroma paid a successful state visit to China at the invitation of President Xi Jinping. China and Sierra Leone have established comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, which injects new and robust impetus into the development of bilateral relations. China is willing to, together with Sierra Leone, maintain the momentum of high-level exchanges, strengthen practical cooperation, well implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state and the outcomes of the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and comprehensively deepen bilateral friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields.

Mohamed Gibril Sesay expressed that Sierra Leone has always considered China as a great friend. The Sierra Leonean side sincerely thanks China for its long-lasting and enormous help and support, especially during the fight against Ebola. China is the most important cooperation partner of Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone is willing to make joint efforts with China to continuously deepen cooperation in various fields, so as to benefit the two peoples.