State media said President Xi Jinping cabled congratulations to President Nova of São Tomé and Príncipe on winning a second term, expressing an intent to sustain bilateral cooperation.

São Tomé and Príncipe is an island nation in the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, a small state of just over 200,000 people. China has maintained political, economic and people-to-people exchange with it.

Congratulatory-cable diplomacy is a routine form for affirming trust between leaders and the continuity of relations. Extending courtesy even to a small state carries symbolic meaning in international relations.

China has recently broadened cooperation with several African countries in infrastructure, trade and education, and the message can be read as an extension of that trend.

The international community watches the ties great powers build with small African states. On a stage where development cooperation and diplomatic support flow both ways, each country manages relations in its own manner.

Rather than judge the merits of any one country's diplomacy, this paper reports factually on how relations between states are maintained and renewed.

After the new São Tomé government takes office, concrete items of bilateral cooperation are expected to be discussed.