Libya has concluded a draft agreement with Beijing to open its oil sector to Chinese companies, on the occasion of the visit of Chinese President Jiang Zemin to Tripoli, an official source announced today, Sunday.
The same source added that the draft agreement, which was signed in the presence of Zemin and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, “will give Chinese oil companies wide opportunities to enter the Libyan oil market in the fields of exploration, development, prospecting and marketing.”
On the other hand, Libya gave its initial approval to “involve Chinese companies in railway projects, specifically the project to link Ras Ajdir, the Libyan-Tunisian border point, to Tripoli, at a value of 40 million dollars,” according to the source.
The two countries also signed a number of agreements, including a memorandum of understanding on bilateral cooperation in the field of investment, a draft cooperation agreement between the Libyan Oil Corporation and its Chinese counterpart, and an executive annex to the railway cooperation project.
The Libyan president awarded his Chinese counterpart, who arrived in Tripoli on Saturday on his first state visit to Libya, “the Great Medal of the Conqueror, one of the country’s highest decorations, in appreciation of his struggle and his prominent role in leading his country and standing with the Libyan people in the Lockerbie case,” according to the same source.
“America was able to demolish the buildings, but it was not able to destroy the values and principles in Libya,” Zimin said, in the presence of the Libyan leader and during a visit to the ruins of his house in Tripoli, which was destroyed by US air strikes in 1986.
Libyan Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassouna Al-Shawsh praised “China’s stances that have always supported small peoples in their just stances.”
The Chinese president is scheduled to leave Tripoli this afternoon, the second leg of his tour that has led him so far to Germany, which also includes visits to Nigeria, Tunisia and Iran.