Located in the western part of Africa, the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire covers an area of 322, 000 square km and has a population of 18.1 million belonging to 69 ethnic groups. A majority of the religious population is Muslim and Christian. French is the official language. Yammoussoukro is the national political capital and Abidjan, the national economic capital. The current president is Laurent Gbagbo.

Since China and Cote D'Ivoire established diplomatic relations on March 2, 1983, bilateral relations have been developing smoothly, and the two countries have been working in close cooperation in the fields of politics, economy and trade, culture and education, as well as international affairs. Cote d'Ivoire's President Gbagbo visited China in 2002. Wei Jianxing, then a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and a member of the CPC Central Committee Secretariat and secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, visited Cote D'Ivoire in the same year. Bilateral trade was 222 million U.S. dollars in 2005.