Kagame invites Chinese tourists to visit Rwanda

By Collins Mwai

President Paul Kagame has extended an invite to Chinese tourists to visit Rwanda to experience unique wildlife and African hospitality noting that the country grants visa on arrival to all Chinese citizens.

Kagame was speaking, virtually, on Sunday 26, September at the opening ceremony of the Second China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo (CAETE) in Changsha, Hunan Province which was also attended by other Heads of State from Africa including Senegal and Algeria. 

Rwanda is among other African participants attending the expo in Changsha, which opened on 26th September.

For this year’s CAETE, Rwanda was invited as one of the “guest countries of honour,” which gives a platform for more visibility and media coverage. 

The expo with the theme; “New Start, New Opportunities, and New Accomplishments”, is co-organized by the Ministry of Commerce and Hunan’s provincial government.

During his address, Kagame welcomed tourists saying that Rwanda grants a visa on arrival to all Chinese citizens.

Kagame also noted that 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations between Rwanda and the People’s Republic of China adding that Rwanda looks to deepen ties further going forward.

 “Our firm intention is to deepen our relationship even further in the next half century of cooperation,” he said.

He hailed the growing China-Africa cooperation through Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) noting that it had led to among other things trade deals for Rwandan companies supplying agricultural commodities to the Chinese market.

“We have already seen the value of this event. At the first Expo in 2019, Rwandan companies secured rewarding trade deals, notably in the supply of specialty agricultural commodities to the Chinese market. This success has served to raise the ambition of our agribusiness sector even higher, and we appreciate the positive response by Chinese consumers to Rwanda’s high-quality chilli, tea, and coffee,” he said.

During the expo, Chinese consumers will be able to learn more about Rwanda’s excellent products including coffee, tea, chili, avocado oil, and handcrafts among others.

In recent years there has been a growth in the number of enterprises from Hunan establishing business ties with Rwandan companies in investment and trade.

InAugust 2021, the first ever shipment of dried chili from Rwanda and the first from Africa arriving in China, in Hunan Province.

With a GDP of more than $600 billion, Hunan ranks in the top 10 richest Chinese provinces and boasts 10 competitive industrial clusters including agro-processing, construction machinery, electronics, new materials, automobiles and parts and mining.

Recently, on behalf of the City of Kigali, the Embassy of Rwanda to China signed a letter of intent with Hunan Province, aimed at deepening economic cooperation between the two sides with industrial development and education among others.

The NewTimes