China, Liberia deepen strategic ties through high-level parliamentary diplomacy

Published: October 17, 2025

BEIJING — In a move underscoring the growing strength of Sino-Liberian relations, China’s top legislator Zhao Leji on Wednesday met with Senator Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence, President Pro Tempore of the Liberian Senate, during her visit to Beijing for the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women.

Zhao, who serves as chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), described the China-Liberia relationship as a “strategic partnership” that has continued to expand under the leadership of both nations’ presidents. He reaffirmed China’s readiness to work closely with Liberia in implementing key agreements reached by the two heads of state, as well as the outcomes of the recent Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

According to Zhao, the partnership between Monrovia and Beijing now stands as an important pillar in China’s broader engagement with Africa. He emphasized the importance of continued mutual support on issues of core national interest, deepened practical cooperation, and enhanced multilateral coordination aimed at building what he described as an “all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future.”

Zhao further expressed China’s willingness to strengthen institutional collaboration between the NPC and the Liberian legislature. He noted that parliamentary exchanges could play a pivotal role in enhancing legislative and supervisory capacity, improving governance, and creating a favorable legal framework for cooperation — especially in promoting women’s rights and inclusion.

Liberia’s Senate Pro-Tempore, Senator Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence, representing Liberia, reaffirmed her country’s firm commitment to the one-China policy, which recognizes Beijing as the sole legitimate government of China. She also voiced strong support for President Xi Jinping’s vision of a “community with a shared future for humanity,” emphasizing that such a philosophy aligns with Liberia’s goals for peace, solidarity, and sustainable development.

The Liberian Senate leader highlighted that inter-parliamentary dialogue can serve as a key platform for deepening bilateral relations beyond traditional areas of trade and infrastructure. She said Liberia looks forward to strengthening cooperation with China in governance, women’s empowerment, and legal reform.

Many who followed the two leaders meeting say the meeting demonstrates China’s sustained engagement with Liberia as part of its broader strategy to consolidate partnerships across Africa. Liberia, which restored diplomatic ties with China in 2003, has since benefited from multiple development projects in energy, health, and infrastructure under the China-Africa cooperation framework.

The high-level exchange between Zhao and Karnga-Lawrence is seen as an affirmation of the two countries’ mutual trust and growing partnership, one that is poised to expand from economic cooperation into legislative collaboration and people-centered development.