Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said São Tomé and Príncipe is welcome to join in the Chinese Belt and Road initiative and so boost its own development.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued yesterday a written statement quoting Mr Wang as telling São Toméan Foreign Minister Edite Tenjua that bilateral cooperation has increased since the restoration of Sino-São Toméan diplomatic relations in 2016.

The ministry says they met in Dakar on Tuesday, on the sidelines of the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

Sino-São Toméan cooperation in agriculture, healthcare and infrastructure has been fruitful for her country, the Chinese official statement quotes Ms Tenjua as saying.