Ambassador James Kimonyo on Friday last week presented his credentials to President Xi Jinping, in a ceremony held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

The presentation of the credentials marked the beginning of Kimonyo’s diplomatic engagement in the Asian country, where he replaced Lt Gen Charles Kayonga.

According to a statement, during the ceremony, President Xi expressed his appreciation of President Kagame for what he has done and continues to do for Rwanda.

Kimonyo conveyed President Paul Kagame’s warmest greetings to his Chinese counterpart and expressed the commitment to strengthen diplomatic and economic cooperation between the two countries.

Rwanda and China bilateral relations is currently at its best since its establishment in 1971, according to officials.

According to Ambassador Kimonyo, China is a reliable partner and ally of Rwanda.

"We hope to strengthen bilateral exchanges with China on governance, trade, investment, education and deepen win-win cooperation on multilateral platforms,” he said after presenting his credentials. 

Kimonyo’s post in China follows a lengthy diplomatic career, and his immediate former posting was in Nairobi as Rwanda’s High Commissioner to the East African country.

Before then, he had served in similar capacities in the United States and South Africa.

Kimonyo replaced Kayonga who has been the Rwandan envoy to the People’s Republic of China since July 2014.