Cape Verde when Portuguese explorers discovered and colonized the islands, establishing the first European settlement in the tropics. Ideally located for the Atlantic slave trade, the islands grew prosperous throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, attracting merchants, privateers, and pirates. The end of slavery in the 19th century led to economic decline and emigration. Cape Verde gradually recovered as an important commercial center and stopover for shipping routes. Incorporated as an overseas department of Portugal in 1951, the islands continued to campaign for independence, which was peacefully achieved in 1975. Since the early 1990s, Cape Verde has been a stable representative democracy,
Cape Verde–China relations Cape Verde–China relations Cape Verde–People's Republic of China relations refers to the current and historical relationship between the People's Republic of China and Cape Verde. The two states established bilateral relations in April 1976, shortly after Cape Verde gained independence from the Portuguese Empire. Cape Verde is an adherent to PR China's One China Policy. China maintained relations with Cape Verde throughout from 1970s to mid-1990s mainly to prevent the Republic of China (Taiwan) from gaining Cape Verde's international recognition through checkbook diplomacy. However, in the mid-1990s, a number of Chinese capitalists began investing in the island nation and relations