China Calls For Closer Ties With Ghana

The Chinese Government has called for the deepening of bilateral relations with Ghana to promote economic growth of the two nations.

Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Sun Baohong, made the call recently in Accra while opening the maiden edition of the China Trade Week Ghana, a two-day trade exhibition being organized by MIE Events of China.

According to the envoy, it has become necessary for both nations to strengthen their bilateral relations which started about 57 years ago.

Trade between Ghana and China has over the years reportedly recorded impressive growth, with the trade volume in 2016 estimated at $5.976 billion, making Ghana the 7^th largest trading partner of China in Africa.

China's import from Ghana in 2016, the Ambassador indicated, was $1.305 billion and export to Ghana was $4.671 billion, adding that “the value of China's newly-signed contracts in Ghana reached $2.511 billion.

Uncertainty
However, there appears to be some uncertainty over the fate of the bilateral relationship between both states due to the Ghanaian government's sustained fight against illegal mining, which has led to the arrests of some Chinese nationals allegedly involved in the practice.

The arrests so far have not gone down well with the Chinese government.

Owing to this, Ambassador Sun Baohong recently urged the Ghanaian government to 'gag' the local media in its reportage on Chinese nationals in the country.

She noted that both countries need to work more closely to attain new achievements and keep forging ahead.

“We should strengthen policy dialogue. China is ready to enhance exchange of experience on governance with Ghana so as to learn from each other, jointly build up our capacity, pave the way for alignment of our policies and development strategies,” she said.

According to her, “We should focus on the major projects that have significant bearing on Ghana's national development. We should stick to intensive development and pay attention to a coordinated layout of infrastructure construction and industry development so that effective investment can be ensured and both sides can reinforce each other.”

She expressed the hope that as long as both nations display sincerity and solidarity from a long-term and strategic perspective, the economic and trade cooperation between them would be moved a notch higher to create a more brilliant chapter.

Commenting on the China Trade Week Ghana 2017, she said “this is not only a manifestation of Chinese speed, but also to a larger, degree manifestation of Chinese confidence in Ghana.”

Factories
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Yoofi Grant, said the Government of China should consider encouraging its business people to establish reputable factories in Ghana to serve the West Africa market instead of constantly exporting to Ghana.

“We do have benefits to derive from each other. Our plan is to bring your investors here; our plan is to open the region for you,” he told the Chinese government.

The event brought together Chinese exhibitors from various industries, including power and energy, electronics, clothing, among others, to provide a business-to-business platform where Ghanaian investors with an interest in doing business with Chinese companies could be educated on how to trade with China.

By Melvin Tarlue