The Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Rwanda, Rao Hongwei, paid a courtesy call on the Speaker of Parliament Donatille Mukabalisa at her office, where the two discussed matters of legislative cooperation between the two countries.

Speaking to journalists, Mukabalisa said that their discussions mainly focused on how the relationship between their parliaments in particular and the countries in general can be strengthened.

"It was a courtesy call that comes after he presented his credentials. We discussed the great diplomatic and bilateral cooperation between our two countries and parliaments. Last year, we received the Chairman of China’s National Peoples’ Congress (NPC) and this year, President Paul Kagame went to China on an official visit. This all is a sign that the relations between our two countries is cordial and we are even working on how to make it even better,” she said.

Mukabalisa also pointed out that the Chinese government was a significant partner, providing the country with support in terms of education, agriculture and infrastructure among others.

The NPC Chairman, Zhang Dejiang, last year paid the country a two day official visit, where he visited different institutions including Parliament. NPC is the supreme organ of state power in China and the current NPC is composed of a total of 2,987 deputies.

On his part, Hongwei said that he was determined to further improve the relations between the two countries’ people.

"This was my first meeting with Madam Speaker since I arrived in Rwanda eight months ago. I do hope that, in future, we can further strengthen the cooperation between our two parliaments to benefit our peoples. The cooperation between our two peoples is good but it is our wish for it to even be better. I hope that there can be more Chinese people coming to Rwanda and more Rwandans going to China,” he said.

Early this year, figures from Rwanda Development Board (RDB) indicated that Rwanda registered 45 Chinese investments between 2010 and 2016. They include joint ventures with Rwandans.

The list is largely dominated by manufacturing, accommodation and real estate and mining.

Century Park and Residence Ltd, which offers accommodation and food service, is the biggest venture by Chinese investors in Rwanda with Rwf 54.9bn ($91.6million) investments,

Another is Fuxin Jiuxing Science & Technology Development Co. Ltd, which invested $30m in mining and quarrying.

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