China–Mauritania relations refer to the bilateral relations between

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

. China and Mauritania established diplomatic relations on July 19, 1965.China has an embassy in

Nouakchott Nouakchott ( ) is the capital and largest city of Mauritania. Located in the southwestern part of the country, it is one of the largest cities in the Sahara. The city also serves as the administrative and economic center of Mauritania. Once a ...

. Mauritania has an embassy in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

History

The government of Mauritania enjoys close ties with the

government of the People's Republic of China The government of the People's Republic of China is based on a system of people's congress within the parameters of a Unitary state, unitary communist state, in which the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) enacts its policies through people's ...

. In recent years, they have signed a series of agreements and exchanged a series of diplomatic gestures that have strengthened their relationship. The Chinese government has recently shown particular interest in Mauritania's

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

deposits. Oil production in Mauritania began in February 2006, and by May of the same year the Chinese and Mauritanian governments signed an agreement on social and economic cooperation. In October 2006, the state-owned

China National Petroleum Corporation The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) () is a major national oil and gas corporation of China and one of the largest integrated energy groups in the world. Its headquarters are in Dongcheng District, Beijing, Dongcheng District, Beij ...

began drilling oil wells in Mauritania, and has three other prospecting permits in Mauritania. The Mauritanian government sees oil production as a significant means of boosting economic growth. During the campaign for Mauritania's

presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The ...

in March 2007, candidate

Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi (‎; 193822 November 2020) was a Mauritania, Mauritanian politician who was List of heads of state of Mauritania, President of Mauritania from 2007 to 2008. He served in the government during the 1970s, and ...

praised Mauritania's growing ties with China, promising to "continue the path of strengthening the bilateral relations with all my efforts".

Human rights

In June 2020, Mauritania was one of 53 countries that backed the Hong Kong national security law at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Chinese development finance to Mauritania

In 1977, China and Mauritania signed an agreement for China to provide Mauritania with an interest free loan over US$150 million and to build Mauritania's Friendship Port of Nouakchott. China completed the port and gave control of it to Mauritania in July 1986, making it Mauritania's first

deep-water port A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inla ...

. At the time, it was the second largest

Chinese foreign aid Chinese foreign aid may be considered as both governmental (official) and private development aid and humanitarian aid originating from the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Chinese official aid - unlike most major nation-state sources of ...

project. China also provided Mauritania with other financing for transportation infrastructure over the course of the 1970s and 1980s. From 2000 to 2012, there are approximately 15 Chinese official development finance projects identified in Mauritania through various media reports. These projects range from extending the Nouakchott Port by 900 meters through a preferential loan of 2 billion Chinese yuan from China's Ex-Im Bank, to a loan of US$136 million from Chinese government to construct a new international airport at

.Strange, Parks, Tierney, Fuchs, Dreher, and Ramachandran, China’s Development Finance to Africa: A Media-Based Approach to Data Collection.http://aiddatachina.org/projects/168

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:China-Mauritania relations

Bilateral relations of Mauritania