At the recent Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit, China announced that it had elevated Rwanda to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, one of the highest levels of relationship that the Asian country has with other nations. The announcement was made after Chinese President Xi Jinping met with his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame earlier this month in Beijing during the FOCAC summit. Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with China refers to a formal and high-level bilateral relationship between China and another country. It signifies a deep, long-term commitment to cooperation across multiple sectors, including economic, political, security, and cultural areas. Speaking at a press conference in Kigali on Tuesday, September 10, Lin Hang, the Minister-Counselor and Deputy Chief of Mission at the Chinese embassy in Rwanda, talked about what the elevated partnership means and why it has come up at this time. She noted that this is the best time she has witnessed in China-Rwanda relations since she was posted in the country a year and a half ago. “We are very proud to elevate this relationship and friendly cooperation to the comprehensive strategic partnership,” she said, pointing out examples of the recent efforts of cooperation between both sides, which include inter-party exchanges, political consultations, as well as various development projects. She highlighted that the party-to-party relations have become greater as the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) signed an MoU for the deepening of the political trust between themselves, as well as exchanging visits. On a keynote, she also pointed out that China, for the first time, posted a military attaché to Rwanda this year which also is an example of the rising level of relations between the two countries. What did Xi say about the elevated relations? During the announcement of the new cooperation level earlier this month, President Xi JinPing said China is willing to deepen the relations even more. He noted that his country is ready to increase exchanges of experience on party and state governance, as well as enhancing political mutual trust, expand shared visions, and jointly advance modernization with Rwanda. He added that China is willing to strengthen cooperation with Rwanda in fields such as infrastructure, agriculture and satellite applications. During Monday’s press conference in Kigali, Ambassador Wang Xuekun, the envoy of China to Rwanda, pointed out that after 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries, the relations are at their best currently. He said the elevated status of “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” is as a result of factors including political mutual trust as Rwanda and China share many similar notions, ideas and visions, as well as working towards sovereignty. “Rwanda considers China as a long term, reliable and dependable good friend, and China also considers Rwanda as a long term, reliable, good friend and good partner,” he noted. “The second aspect is that when it comes to things concerning our core interests, we give firm support to each other. China and Rwanda both firmly defend and safeguard common interests of developing countries. We all work to defend fairness and justice in the international society,” he noted. He pointed out that in almost all areas, China and Rwanda have carried out cooperation in a very “effective and pragmatic way.” Such fields of cooperation include infrastructure, agriculture, education, health, ICT, trade and investment.
