China is willing to strengthen pragmatic cooperation with Sierra Leone to better benefit peoples of both countries, said Premier Li when meeting with the visiting Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma on Dec 2 in Beijing.

Premier Li said that the bilateral relations between China and Sierra Leone have developed smoothly with fruitful achievements of mutually beneficial cooperation have been made. China is ready to deepen political mutual trust with Sierra Leone, and conduct close communication and exchanges on international and regional issues, the Premier added.

Premier Li noted that China is willing to join hands with Sierra Leone to explore cooperation potentials, with emphasis on infrastructure construction and production capacity, and carry out cooperation in minerals, agriculture, fishery and products deep processing by following market principles.

In 2014, China provided aid to Sierra Leone and other Western African countries ravaged by Ebola virus and helped them defeat the epidemic. The Premier said that China is willing to strengthen cooperation with Sierra Leone in the field of public health, and continue to send medical teams to the country.

Koroma thanked China for taking the lead in helping Sierra Leone combat the Ebola epidemic and strengthening disease prevention and control capability.

He said Sierra Leone wishes to learn from China’s development, strengthen bilateral cooperation in infrastructure construction, minerals and agriculture, and expand their cooperation to communications, public health and tourism to comprehensively advance bilateral ties.