President Paul Kagame and First Lady Jeannette Kagame welcome XI Jinping and First Lady Peng Liyuan upon their arrival in Kigali
President Xi Jinping and First Lady Peng Liyuan have arrived in Rwanda for the long-awaited historical visit.
“This evening, President Kagame and First Lady Jeannette Kagame welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping and First Lady Peng Liyuan to Rwanda for their two-day State Visit,” wrote the office of the president on the official twitter handle.
Trade and investment between both countries are major elements that are expected to dominate talks between both leaders.
The two Heads of State will hold bilateral talks and address a joint press conference. President Xi will also pay his respect to the victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, and meet the Chinese community in Rwanda.
Over the last 12 years, 61 investment projects and joint ventures worth US$ 419.556 million have been registered from China. The actual investments are estimated at US$ 352.581 million in tourism, mining and construction sectors.
Rwanda’s National Carrier, RwandAir, is in the process of acquiring the operating permit to fly to China’s economic city of Guangzhou. Flights are expected to commence in February 2019.
President Xi Jinping and Paul Kagame inspect a guard of honour at Kigali International airport.
This year marks 47 years of diplomatic relations between Rwanda and China. Both countries maintain close collaboration in infrastructure, culture, capacity building, health and agriculture sectors as well as people to people exchanges. Projects are financed through concessional loans, grants and potential private sector financing participation.
During the state visit, 15 bilateral cooperation agreements are expected to be signed.
It is the first ever visit by a Chinese president to Rwanda.
1 comment
The visit demonstrate a strong diplomatic relationship with Rwanda vs Chinese government.
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