Government of South Sudan (Juba)

press release

 

Juba — The President of the Republic of South Sudan H.E Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit has asserted that South Sudan will have no problems with the existing oil contracts between China and the Government of Sudan in Khartoum, but the contracts must be reviewed because South Sudan is now an independent State. President Kiir made the remarks during his meeting today August 9th, 2011 with the Chinese Foreign Minister Dr. Yang Jiechi who led a high-level delegation to South Sudan.

 

President Kiir pledged that South Sudan will maintain a good relationship with the North, and urged the Chinese government to prevail upon President El-Bashir not to block the oil pipe lines. The President of the Republic called on China to help in the building of infrastructure of the young nation of South Sudan in the fields of education, health, roads and agriculture sectors.

Dr. Jiechi said in a press statement after his meeting with President Kiir that the relationship between China and South Sudan dates back to forty years ago in medical and agricultural fields, and that China sees a great potential for furthering friendly cooperation with the Republic of South Sudan.

He told the press that during the meeting he extended an invitation of the President of the People's Republic of China H.E Hu Jing Tao to President Kiir to visit China within this year. He explained that China would like to maintain high level contacts and exchange visits by delegations from different fields including inter-parliamentary relationship, party to party, education, provincial and municipal administration.

On the economy and trade relations, the Chinese minister said his country is ready to cooperate with the new Republic of South Sudan in the field of agriculture, infrastructure construction, and oil production. He added that China is ready to uplift the living standards of the people of South Sudan.

On his part, South Sudan's caretaker minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation H.E Deng Alor said the visit of the Chinese minister to Juba will help build a special relationship between the Republic of South Sudan and People's Republic of China. He explained that the President's meeting with the Chinese delegation covered a range of cooperation issues in the areas of economic, political and regional development. H.E Alor emphasized that South Sudan will cooperate with China since it needs to build its infrastructure.