Agreements and Conventions

Cooperation between Côte d'Ivoire and China is very dynamic due to the significant number of actions carried out.

I.1 Economic and Financial Cooperation

Several agreements and conventions have been signed between the two countries:

• A grant agreement of 25 billion FCFA, without counterparty, to fund agricultural projects and build a hospital, signed on March 15, 2018, in Abidjan, as well as another grant of 200 million FCFA to equip the National Malaria Control Center.

• Agreement on the Promotion and Protection of Investments, signed in 2002 but not yet ratified.

• Framework agreement on economic, commercial, industrial, and technical cooperation, signed on December 8, 1988, in Tianjin, between the "International Trade Center Business Club" of Abidjan and the "China Tianjin International Economic and Technical Cooperative Corporation" of Tianjin.

• Commercial agreement between Côte d'Ivoire and China, repealing the one from 1984, signed on July 8, 1996, during the Ivorian Prime Minister's visit to China.

• Agreement on agricultural development, signed on December 14, 1984, in Abidjan.

• First commercial agreement, signed on December 12, 1984, in Abidjan and ratified on September 12, 1985 (this agreement was repealed and replaced by a new commercial agreement signed on July 8, 1996).

• Two partial debt cancellation agreements between the Ivorian and Chinese governments for an amount of 17.6 billion FCFA in May 2011.

Economic cooperation has been marked in the past five years by the organization of the second Joint Economic Commission between China and Côte d'Ivoire in Abidjan, in May 2013. This meeting led to the development of eleven (11) project agreements in the fields of civil security, training, mining, oil and energy, culture, ICT, social issues, and health.

In terms of financial cooperation, Côte d'Ivoire has benefited from over 1,529.2 billion FCFA from China since 2010 for the financing of various development projects. These financings from China consist of 1,477.7 billion FCFA in loans (96.6%) and 51.3 billion FCFA in grants (3.4%). They come from the China Eximbank for 1,370.9 billion FCFA (89.6%), the Chinese Government for 119 billion FCFA (7.8%), and Huawei Tech for 39.4 billion FCFA (2.6%).

Loan agreements concluded between the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire and the People's Republic of China have enabled the implementation of the following major projects:

• Water supply for the city of Abidjan from Bonoua (49.73 billion FCFA);

• Construction of the "Résidences Concordes" of SICOGI (31.25 billion FCFA);

• Government electronic network (15 billion FCFA);

• Rehabilitation and renovation of the Abidjan Cultural Palace (14.33 billion FCFA);

• Expansion of the Anyama college (7 billion FCFA);

• Rehabilitation of the Abidjan Plateau ministerial block, phase 2 (5.44 billion FCFA);

• Construction of the Abidjan-Bassam highway (54.66 billion FCFA);

• Hydro-electric project in Soubré (250 billion FCFA);

• Expansion and modernization of the Port Autonome d'Abidjan (396.965 billion FCFA);

• Construction of the Olympic Stadium in Ebimpé (63 billion FCFA);

• Water supply for the city of Abidjan, phase II (51.94 billion FCFA);

• Rural telephony-fiber optics (21.63 billion FCFA);

• Rural telephony - CDMA (17.8 billion FCFA);

• Paving of the Odienné - Gbeleban road (37.7 billion FCFA);

• Rehabilitation and development of the electricity network in Côte d'Ivoire;

• Implementation of the unified and open video surveillance platform for the city of Abidjan (32.9 billion FCFA);

• Grand Bassam Excellence High School (13.4 billion FCFA);

• Construction of the Agboville-Rubino-Cechy and Odienné-Gbeleban roads (68.9 billion FCFA);

• Construction of the Tiébissou-Bouaké highway (157.8 billion FCFA).

During the State Visit of the President of the Republic, His Excellency Mr. Alassane OUATTARA to China in August 2018, 18 agreements were signed, totaling 3.4 billion US dollars, or 1,900 billion FCFA. These agreements focus on electricity supply to populations, access to education in rural areas through communication technologies, the establishment of industrial parks in Abidjan and other parts of the country, the construction of several roads, including the Tiébissou-Bouaké highway, increased provision of drinking water, and the construction of hospitals, including a university hospital in Abobo.

I.2 Technical Cooperation

Various agreements have been signed:

• Agreement for the creation of a Chinese Investment, Exploitation, and Trade Center in Côte d'Ivoire, signed on July 8, 1996, during the Ivorian Prime Minister's visit to China.

• Inter-university agreement between Nanjing University (Nanking) and the National University of Côte d'Ivoire, signed on December 1, 1992.

• Sister city agreement signed in 1992 between Abidjan and Tianjin, and between Abengourou and Ezhu (Hebei province).

• Cultural cooperation agreement, signed in April 1992 in Abidjan.

• Agreement on cooperation in higher education, signed in December 1991 in Abidjan.

• Scientific and technical cooperation agreement, signed in Abidjan on September 15, 1988.