On January 13, 2018 local time, Foreign Minister Wang Yi briefed the press at inquiry on relevant information of his visit to Rwanda after meeting with President Paul Kagame of Rwanda in Kigali.
Wang Yi expressed that China's diplomacy has a good tradition, namely, the Foreign Minister of China always chooses Africa as the destination of his first visit every year. The tradition, which has been kept for 28 years, aims to show to the international community that Africa is always a prior direction of China's diplomacy and China is always the most reliable friend and companion of its African brothers.
Rwanda is the first stop of the visit to Africa. China-Rwanda relations enjoy sound development as both countries have always understood, respected and supported each other. Last March, President Paul Kagame paid a successful visit to China, during which President Xi Jinping and President Paul Kagame reached important consensus on deepening friendly cooperation between the two countries. I just paid a courtesy call on President Paul Kagame and held talks with Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo previously. Both sides agreed to remain committed to elevating their efforts in four aspects. First is to elevate the level of political mutual trust between the two countries by strengthening exchanges of various levels. Second is to elevate the level of practical cooperation between the two countries by reinforcing exchanges in various fields. Third is to elevate the level of mutual understanding by reinforcing people-to-people and cultural exchanges. Fourth is to elevate the level of jointly coping with international and regional challenges by strengthening communication and coordination.
Wang Yi noted that the Vision 2020 and Vision 2050 of Rwanda share similarities with the development strategy of China. China is willing to be a long-term and reliable cooperative partner of Rwanda in the process of the national development of Rwanda as well as play an important role in accelerating the progress of Rwanda's industrialization and enhancing its self-development capacity. I believe that under the guidance of the two heads of state and with joint efforts of both sides, China-Rwanda friendly cooperative relations will surely be elevated to new highs.
