Africa -China Review Africa -China Cooperation and Transformation
Published: July 31,2023
By Staff writer
The visit to Africa by China’s Minister of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Hon. Liu Jianchao is expected to strengthen relations with the African continent. In Rwanda the CPC official met with the Rwandan President Paul Kagame and the Ruling party RPF Secretary General Gasamagera Wellars as well as RPF senior cadres, representatives of the media, think-tanks and universities.
Minister Liu revealed that China pays special attention to pursing high-standard opening up, devoting more resources to global development cooperation and facilitating high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. This is a practical example of China’s willingness to share her development with the rest of the world. China Africa has realized improved infrastructure development and connectivity hence boosting internal and external trade due to projects under the Belt and Road Initiative.
On Rwanda, Hon. Liu Jianchao said that, “over the years, China-Rwanda cooperation has been a pace-setter for and an epitome of China-Africa cooperation. President Xi Jinping and President Kagame have met with each other quite often in recent years and have reached important consensus on further deepening our state-to-state interactions and cooperation across the board, thus setting the course for future China-Rwanda relations.”
China and Rwanda have political mutual trust has been deepened as both countries have practiced true multilateralism and rendered each other staunch support on issues of core interests and major concerns, Hon. Liu said.
“Our practical cooperation has borne fruit as we have successfully dovetailed the Belt and Road Initiative and Rwanda’s Vision 2050. In 2022, our bilateral trade volume reached 477 million US dollars, up by 31.2 percent year on year, with more high quality Rwandan products such as dried chilies and coffee beans going into ordinary Chinese households. Our people-to-people exchanges have flourished with many highlights. Chinese martial arts and the Chinese language mandarin are very popular in today’s Rwanda. Umuganda culture has had dynamic interactions with Chinese culture. More and more Chinese tourists wish to visit Rwanda to adore the mountain gorillas,” the CPC official said.
On future cooperation with Rwanda and Africa in general, Hon. Minister Liu said that, “under the new 9 circumstances, China is ready to join hands with Rwanda to support each other’s independent choice of development paths, synergize the development strategies, and assist each other in our respective industrialization and modernization process. Let’s work together to advance China-Africa friendship and build a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future, thus setting a fine example for the human community with a shared future.”
