Chinese Ambassador to Rwanda bids farewell to President Kagame

Published: March 22,2022

By Staff writer

President Paul Kagame on Monday, received at his office Village Urugwiro the outgoing Chinese ambassador to Rwanda H.E Rao Hongwei who is soon ending his tour of duty in Rwanda.

Ambassador Hongwei began his tour of duty in 2016, after serving as the Consulate General of China in the city of Adelaide in Australia. During his tour of duty in Rwanda, the bilateral relations between China and Rwanda has been at its best. Last year, the two countries celebrated 50 years of diplomatic relations.  Again president Xi Jinping visited Rwanda in 2018, where 15 bilateral agreements were signed in different sectors. It was the first time in history  that a Chinese president visited Rwanda. Ambassador Hongwei in a previous interview said that the implementation of the agreements increase cooperation and brotherly bilateral relations. 

Ambassador Hongwei also pointed out that the use of ICT is a new pillar in international trade, where every kilogram of Rwandan coffee sold in China via the internet makes an addition of $4 to the Rwandan farmer. 

In recent years, Chinese companies are involved in various developmental activities such as road construction, housing, hotel industry, trade and investment, to mention but a few. 

China supports Rwanda in various sectors especially infrastructure development, education, agriculture and medical field. In recent years, China gifted Rwanda the current building that houses the office of the Prime minister and other government institutions. The Ministry of Foreign affairs building was also a donation by the  Chinese government. 

Since 1982, China sent to Rwanda 21 teams of medical doctors and a total of 258 experts who worked with their Rwandan counterpart in improving healthcare in different parts of Rwanda. In the fight against COVID-19 pandemic, China supported Rwanda by providing the most needed medical supplies like face masks, medical kits, and more than 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines. 

‘‘Rwanda was the first country in Africa that sold dried chilli in China and in the next 5 years, 50,000 tons of chilli will be exported. There are other exports from Rwanda that will be sold in China,’’ ambassador Hongwei added.  

Ambassador Hongwei was received in the presence of Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Vincent Biruta.