Liberian president arrives in Beijing for FOCAC summit

Liberian President Joseph Nyumah Boakai arrived in Beijing on Wednesday morning to attend the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which will be held in the Chinese capital from Wednesday to Friday.

Located in west Africa, Liberia has a tropical monsoon climate, with an annual average temperature of 25 degrees Celsius.

China and Liberia have achieved remarkable results in mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields. China has aided Liberia by funding and implementing the construction of the Barreke Sugar Mill, the SKD Sports Complex, the Tappita Hospital, the office building of the Ministry of Health, the agricultural technology demonstration center and other projects, which have brought tangible benefits to Liberia.

China has been sending experts to Liberia to carry out technical cooperation in bamboo and rattan weaving, vegetable planting and animal husbandry. Chinese enterprises' investment in Liberia has helped the country convert their resource advantages into development achievements.

China and Liberia have signed a trade agreement with payment in cash. In 2023, the bilateral trade volume between China and Liberia reached 9.92 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 32 percent year on year.

The two countries have maintained close exchanges in the fields of culture, youth, medical care and health. They have signed an agreement on cultural cooperation.

China began accepting Liberian scholarship students in 1986. In the 2022-2023 academic year, a total of 1,134 Liberian students studied in Chinese universities.

After the outbreak of the Ebola epidemic, China was the first to provide assistance to Liberia, sending public health experts to train local medical staff, assisting in building the Ebola treatment center, and dispatching hundreds of medical personnel to participate in the management and operation of the center. Following the World Health Organization's declaration of the end of the Ebola epidemic in Liberia, China handed over the center to Liberia.

Since July 1984, China has dispatched 16 groups totaling 159 medical personnel to Liberia, with nine medical workers currently providing services in the country.

Liberian president arrives in Beijing for FOCAC summit

Authorities in east China's coastal provinces Zhejiang and Jiangsu have launched emergency evacuation of residents to help mitigate the impact of Typhoon Bebinca -- the 13th typhoon of the year.

In Zhejiang's Pinghu City, communities have started the relocation work. The old town area of Xindai, home to about 1,400 permanent residents, including some 30 percent elderly, has been a focus of evacuation efforts.

Over 50 elderly residents have been evacuated to a temporary courtyard shelter, where they have plenty of space for meals and walking around. The shelter is equipped with folding beds, food, drinking water and medical staff standing by to address any health concerns.

The province also raised its emergency response for typhoon prevention to level II.

In Jiangsu Province, Nantong City has conducted comprehensive safety inspections and organized evacuations in key areas.

Nantong's Rugao Port on the Yangtze River was shutdown on Sunday afternoon.

All workers at the Zhangjiagang-Jingjiang-Rugao Bridge construction site -- located at a river shoal -- are evacuated ahead of the storm attack.

"From the temporary ferry to the Rugao-Zhangjiagang ferry, we have evacuated a total of 428 people. So far, all construction personnel of the Zhangjinggao Bridge within the scope of this construction site have been evacuated to our shelter," said Ding Xiaoxing, chief engineer of Rugao Water Affairs Department.

Authorities in Nantong has evacuated more than 1,400 people and over 200 vessels along the coastal area under its jurisdiction.

Making landfall in Shanghai on Monday morning, Typhoon Bebinca is the most powerful tropical cyclone directly hitting the Chinese financial hub in more than seven decades.

Zhejiang, Jiangsu evacuate residents as Typhoon Bebinca lands in east China