January 11, 2006	Wednesday	Zilhaj 10, 1426

BEIJING, Jan 10: China’s foreign minister will upgrade economic and political ties with Nigeria during his upcoming African visit, an official said on Tuesday, a day after the nations signed a 2.3-billion-dollar oil deal.

Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing will visit Nigeria on January

16-17 as part of a six-nation Africa tour, ministry spokesman Kong Quan told journalists.

Li is expected to meet President Olusegun Obasanjo and sign a memorandum of understanding on a “China-Nigeria strategic partnership” as well as an economic and technical agreement, Kong told a regular briefing.

“These agreements are very important because China-Nigeria relations are steadily developing and the economic cooperation between the two countries is expanding steadily,” Kong said.

“The signing of these two agreements will further promote and accelerate the development of relations.”

China’s largest gas and oil producer, China National Overseas Oil Corp, said Monday it would buy a 45 per cent stake in an oil block off the coast of Nigeria for almost $2.3 billion. —AFP