Djibouti and China signed a "security and defence strategic partnership" agreement on 25 February, according to the Horn of Africa's Sabahi news service.
Sabahi cited Djiboutian Defence Minister Hassan Darar Houffaneh as saying he had signed an agreement with his Chinese counterpart, Chang Wanquan, that covered the use of his country's military facilities, including its port, by China.
"In exchange, we have asked for our military co-operation to be expanded to enable us to build the operational capacities of the Djiboutian armed forces," Sabahi quoted Houffaneh as saying. "In this deal, we laid emphasis on building the capacities of Djibouti's navy, which lacks patrol boats, and building the capacities of the air force, which will soon acquire Chinese aircraft."
