BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Premier Li Qiang told visiting Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki on Monday that their countries should “deepen mutually beneficial win-win cooperation and continuously enrich their strategic partnership” at a meeting in Beijing.
On the Red Sea, Eritrea could be geopolitically important for China, with its access to the Suez Canal and Europe to the north and the Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean to the southeast, as China seeks to bolster its presence in the Horn of Africa.
Eritrea also shares a border with Djibouti, where China’s People’s Liberation Army set up its first overseas military base in 2017.
(Reporting by Joe Cash; Editing by Robert Birsel)
