Pres joins Chinese citizens to mark 75th National Day in Accra
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo last Friday joined Chinese citizens in the country to commemorate the 75th National Day of the People’s Republic of China in Accra.
The event which was held at the residence of the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Tong Defa, also saw the attendance of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister of National Security, Albert Kan Dapaah, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and a host of other dignitaries.
The Chinese National Day is celebrated annually by the people of China across the world to commemorate the founding of modern day China also referred to as the People’s Republic of China.
Delivering his welcome address, Mr Tong Defa said since the founding of the PRC some 75 years ago, China had worked to deeply integrate with the wider world.
He said under the guidance of the people-centered development philosophy, China had lifted nearly 100 million people out of poverty while nurturing the world’s largest middle-income group totalling over 400 million people.
In addition, he said the Chinese government had set up the world’s largest education system, social security system and medical care system.
“For years, China has contributed around 30 per cent to global economic growth. Last year, China’s exports of the “new trio”, namely electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, and photovoltaic products exceeded one trillion yuan (140 billion US dollars), a year-on-year increase of 30 per cent. Half of China’s population are using 5G technology. Recently, Huawei launched the world’s first tri-fold smartphone, the latest milestone in the transition from “made in China” to “created by China,” he emphasised.
Touching on China-Ghana relations, Mr Defa said political mutual trust between the two continued to deepen, stressing that “Ghana is the second sub-Saharan African country to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. Ghana has always adhered to the one-China principle and worked closely with China in bilateral and multilateral areas.”
To this end he said the two countries had announced jointly, the elevation of relations to a strategic partnership and this was the most important political outcome of the recent visit of President Akufo-Addo to China.
Mr Defa explained that during the meeting President Xi Jinping noted that China was ready to carry forward the deep friendship forged by the elder generation of the leaders of the two countries with Ghana and be good friends who trust each other, good partners for common development, and good brothers with close cooperation.
“President Akufo-Addo also emphasized that Ghana was one of the first batch of African countries to establish diplomatic relations with the PRC, praising China as the most trustworthy friend and partner for over 60 years,” he said.
Mr Kan Dapaah on his part said Ghana was working to achieve economic transformation through industrialisation, agricultural modernisation and green development and its collaboration with China would help a great deal in this direction.
He said Ghana and China had enjoyed decades of cooperation dating back to the 1960s and this relationship had witnessed increasing high level exchanges in the area of technical and financial support.
Mr Kan Dapaah said “These efforts have significantly impacted our mutual prosperity and a notable example of China’s support is a role as the co-chair of the official creditors committee in Ghana’s recent negotiation with the International Monetary Fund.”
BY CLIFF EKUFUL
