On February 19th, 2021, an Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation and a Protocol on Debt Cancellation Between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Rwanda were signed in Kigali by H.E. RAO Hongwei, Chinese Ambassador to Rwanda and Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning of Rwanda. Wang Jiaxin, Economic and Commercial Counsellor of Chinese Emassy to Rwanda, and officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning of Rwanda attended the signing ceremony.
Ambassador Rao said, since Chinese President XI Jinping's historic visit to Rwanda in 2018, the bilateral relationship between Rwanda and China has reached a record high. As the COVID-19 pandemic began to overwhelm the world last year, the pace of China-Rwanda cooperation has not been hindered, and our time-tested friendship has been further solidified. China hopes, by extending the new financial support, to make contribution to Rwanda's all-round transformation and recovery from the malign impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Year 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Rwanda. The Chinese side is willing to work with Rwanda to jointly deepen the win-win cooperation in various fields and open up new chapters of common development and prosperity.
Minister Ndagijimana, on behalf of the Rwandan Government, extended sincere gratitude to the Chinese Government for its support. He said, considering Rwanda's economy and society has been hit roughly by the COVID-19 pandemic, the assistance offered by China during this special time once again highlighted the friendly relations between the two countries as well as our firm determination to overcome all difficulties. Rwanda wishes to join hands and collaborate more with China to further strengthen the mutual benefit cooperation to continuously achieve new results.
