The Chinese
Embassy in Banjul on Thursday hosted a reception in honour of its new
ambassador, M.A. Jianchun held at Coco Ocean in Bijilo.
Ambassador M.A.
Jianchun at the reception said he immediately felt the hospitality and
enthusiasm of The Gambia upon arrival in the country. “I
assured President Barrow that I shall do my best efforts to develop friendly
relations and cooperation between our two countries and deepen the friendship
of our peoples.”
During the Beijing
Summit of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which was successfully
held this September, China shared the fruits and opportunities of its
development with Africa by announcing eight major initiatives in collaboration
with Africa for industrial promotion, infrastructure connectivity, trade
facilitation, green development, capacity building, healthcare,
people-to-people exchange and peace and security.
The Gambia, as one
of the newest and important members of the great FOCAC family, will surely
benefit from the fruitful outcomes of the FOCAC Beijing Summit just as all other
members of the forum do, he assured.
The eight major
initiatives conform well to the National Development Plan (NDP) of the Gambian
government in many ways.
He further said
that the China-Gambia cooperation in various areas is already impressive and “we
are glad to see more projects coming.”
He stated that
this December, the China-aid project of Road and Bridges Construction in URR
will be launched, which will greatly contribute to the development of the
region and the country as a whole and help improve the daily lives of the local
people.
The Confucius
Institute at the University of The Gambia will also be inaugurated shortly,
which will boost China-Gambia cultural exchanges and bring the hearts of our
people even closer to each other, he said.
He promised that
next year, China will provide more Chinese Government Scholarships for
excellent and hardworking Gambian students who are eager to pursue top-quality
higher education in China.