BEIJING — On Saturday, China’s President Xi Jinping and Cape Verde’s President Jose Maria Neves exchanged official congratulatory messages to celebrate the five-decade milestone of diplomatic relations between the two nations, bringing renewed attention to the long-standing bilateral partnership between China and the West African island country.
This 50-year anniversary marks a half-century of steadily growing cooperation, people-to-people exchanges, and mutual respect between Beijing and Praia. The diplomatic exchange comes as both sides have repeatedly reaffirmed their commitment to deepening collaborative ties across areas including infrastructure development, trade, climate action, and cultural exchange in recent years.
As a developing small island nation, Cape Verde has benefited from China’s South-South cooperation initiatives over the decades, with Chinese investment and technical support contributing to key national infrastructure projects that have boosted local economic growth and improved public living standards. Meanwhile, the two countries have maintained consistent coordination on international and regional affairs, upholding the principles of multilateralism and the common interests of developing nations.
The exchange of congratulations for this golden anniversary lays a clear foundation for further expanding bilateral cooperation in the coming years, as both sides look to build on 50 years of positive engagement to advance shared goals and deepen friendship between the Chinese and Cape Verdean peoples. The announcement of this diplomatic exchange was officially updated by Xinhua News Agency on April 25, 2026.