Nigeria And China: A Partnership Built On Mutual Respect, Trust And Shared Strategic Interest

JOSEPH TEGBE

When President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing alongside America’s most powerful business executives, the world was reminded that economic interdependence remains one of the most powerful forces in international relations.

Beneath the trade and investment agenda, however, ran a question China has never left unanswered, the One-China Principle, and Beijing’s absolute, unwavering commitment to it.

For China, this is a matter of sovereign certainty. The People’s Republic of China is the world’s only legitimate Chinese government, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of its territory. This is not a position Beijing has hedged or softened across decades of shifting global politics. It is the bedrock on which China conducts its diplomacy and evaluates the reliability of its partners.

China’s consistency on this question reflects not inflexibility, but the depth of a national conviction rooted in history, sovereignty and the long arc of Chinese civilisation, and for nations that share these values, China has proven to be a committed and consequential partner.

Nigeria is one such nation. Since establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing in 1971, Nigeria has maintained a clear, principled and unbroken adherence to the One-China Principle.

This position flows directly from Nigeria’s own foreign policy tradition, grounded in respect for sovereignty, principle of non-interference and the belief that nations must be free to determine their own paths. Nigeria and China share a philosophical foundation that gives their relationship a depth that goes well beyond transactional interest.

That shared foundation received its most authoritative expression when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu met President Xi Jinping in Beijing in 2024. The joint statement was unequivocal: Nigeria affirmed adherence to the One-China Principle, recognised the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal authority representing the whole of China, regarded Taiwan as an inalienable part of Chinese territory, and expressed full support for China’s pursuit of national reunification. These were not words of diplomatic courtesy. They were the deliberate reaffirmation of a partnership grounded in mutual respect and long-term strategic alignment.

Nigeria’s legislature has reinforced this position with equal clarity. Recently, the Hon Jafar Yakubu, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on China-Nigeria Parliamentary Relations recently confirmed that Nigeria’s stance is clear, consistent and firmly rooted in international law and bilateral agreements.

Nigeria’s commitment to the One-China Principle is not the policy of one administration. It is a settled, cross-institutional expression of national conviction.

This consistency is a strategic asset, one that Nigeria deploys with purpose through the Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership.

Five decades of diplomatic reliability have built a genuine reservoir of political trust with Beijing. The NCSP’s mandate is to translate that trust into a new and more productive phase of economic cooperation: manufacturing investment, technology transfer, industrial development and export-oriented production that reflects Nigeria’s true scale and potential as Africa’s largest economy.

China has already contributed meaningfully to Nigeria’s railway corridors, port infrastructure, energy infrastructure, telecommunications networks and industrial capacity. However, the relationship can and must deliver more. Nigeria’s digital economy, solid minerals sector, agro-processing capacity and consumer market all represent areas of deep mutual interest. With a transparent, results-oriented framework aligned with Nigeria’s national development priorities, the NCSP can move the partnership decisively from infrastructure financing toward genuine industrialisation.

NCSP continues to strengthen bilateral collaboration with China across trade, investment, technology transfer, infrastructure and capacity building, with a clear mandate to deliver measurable, tangible value to Nigeria’s economy.

Joseph Tegbe is the Director-General of Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership