China's President Xi Jinping and his wife, the First Lady Peng Liyuan arrived in Rwanda on Sunday, July 22, to kick off the two-day State visit in the African country aimed at strengthening the economic and diplomatic ties between the two nations.
The Chinese head of state and his travel entourage were received by Rwandan leader, President Paul Kagame and his First Lady Jeannette Kagame, along with high-ranking government officials.
The visit, according to CNN, will serve Beijing's purpose of strengthening its diplomatic ties as well as to further establish an economic cooperation with the Rwandan government under Kagame.
The central African country has been China's biggest trading partner in the region. Much of the roads in Rwanda were built by Chinese contractors. And over the last 12 years, it has benefited on more than $400 million worth of investments from Chinese firms.
This could further be increased given Xi's determination to further extend the diplomatic relations between the two sovereign states.
As reported at a local news media, the meeting between Xi and Kagame proved fruitful as evident in the 15 bilateral pacts signed by the two nations. This includes an agreement in trade, infrastructure, investments, and e-commerce, to mention a few.
Further enhanced in the China-Rwanda agreement is the Silk Road Economic Belt cooperation, which as mentioned earlier, is one of the top priorities of the Xi Jinping administration.
The Silk Road Economic Belt, or better known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is an intercontinental development strategy by China which promotes cooperation with countries in the Eurasian region, including Africa.
Beijing also seeks to support Rwanda in its law enforcement efforts through the bilateral pact. Both territories are also now making it easier for their respective constituents to travel between countries with the visa exemption given to diplomatic and service passport holders.
China is also pouring funds to the expansion of the Masaka District Hospital in Kigali. There are also grants for the construction of the Huye-Kibeho-Munini road and the Bugesera International Airport access road project.
At a press conference, the Chinese leader praised Rwanda as a "vibrant and well-organized country," a state which makes it possible for its people to lead a "happy and content life."
"We want to see that our mutually beneficial relations can yield more fruit and that our people and the people in Africa can have more gains," Xi Jinping added.
After Rwanda, the Chinese dignitaries will head to the BRICS summit in South Africa. BRICS is an economic association of the countries Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
