I. Bilateral political relations
The People’s Republic of China and Burkina Faso established diplomatic relations in September 1973. On February 2, 1994, the government of Burkina Faso and the Taiwan authorities signed a communique on the “resumption of diplomatic relations". On February 4, the Chinese government announced the suspension of diplomatic relations with Burkina Faso. On May 24, 2018, Burkina Faso announced the “severing of diplomatic ties” with Taiwan. On May 26, Wang Yi, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister, and Alvaro Bari, Foreign Minister of Burkina Faso, signed in Beijing the Joint Communique on the Resumption of Diplomatic Relations between the People’s Republic of China and Bukina Faso, officially restoring diplomatic relations between the two countries at the ambassadorial level. In September 2024, the two countries established a strategic partnership.
The important Chinese delegations to Bukina Faso include: Vice Premier Hu Chunhua (July 2018), State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (January 2019)
The important delegations of Bukina Faso to China include: Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Alpha Barry (visited China in May 2018, accompanied Burkina Faso President Rach Kaboré on a state visit to China and attended the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in September 2018, and attended the first meeting of the China-Burkina Faso Joint Economic and Trade Commission in April 2019), President Kaboré (paid a state visit to China and attended the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in September 2018), President of the National Assembly Alassane Bala Sakandé (March 2019), Prime Minister Apollinaire Kyelem de Tambela (attended the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in September 2024).
In November 2021, on the sidelines of the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Foreign Minister of Burkina Faso Barry.
II. Bilateral economic and trade relations, and economic and technological cooperation
China and Burkina Faso established the Joint Economic and Trade Commission in May 2018 and held the first meeting of the commission in April 2019. In 2024, bilateral trade volume reached 741 million US dollars, an increase of 24.7% year-on-year. Among this, China’s export volume was 686 million US dollars and the import volume was 55 million US dollars.
III. Cooperation in other fields
From the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries to the suspension of diplomatic ties in 1994, China sent a total of 163 medical personnel of 9 batches to Burkina Faso and accepted 23 Burkina Faso students to study in China. Since the resumption of diplomatic relations in 2018, China has successively dispatched 6 batches of medical teams to Burkina Faso. In August 2018, China and Burkina Faso signed an agreement on mutual visa exemption for holders of diplomatic and service passports, which came into effect in November 2018.
IV. Important bilateral agreements and documents
Joint Communique between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Upper Volta on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations (signed on September 15, 1973);
Joint Communique between the People’s Republic of China and Burkina Faso on the Restoration of Diplomatic Relations (signed on May 26, 2018);
Agreement between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of Burkina Faso on Cultural Cooperation (signed on October 26, 2019);
Memorandum of Understanding between the People’s Republic of China and Burkina Faso on Cooperation within the Framework of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative (signed on November 17, 2021).