Chinese President Xi Jinping and Rwandan President Paul Kagame announced the elevation of China-Rwanda relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership on Thursday. Kagame is in Beijing for the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

During the meeting, Xi reaffirmed China's support for Rwanda's independent development path and expressed a willingness to deepen exchanges of experience on party and state governance, enhance political mutual trust and expand shared goals in modernization efforts.

Xi emphasized that the FOCAC summit offers a historic opportunity to upgrade the bilateral relationship. He said China is dedicated to implementing the summit's outcomes with Rwanda, focusing on strengthening cooperation in infrastructure, agriculture, satellite applications and other sectors. China is also willing to jointly run the Confucius Institute at the University of Rwanda and Luban Workshop and to promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation between the two countries.

Xi acknowledged Rwanda's positive contributions to maintaining peace and security in Africa and expressed China's readiness to deepen collaboration in peacekeeping and other areas.

Kagame recalled President Xi's visit to Rwanda in 2018, highlighting the shared values of multilateralism and respect for sovereignty between the peoples of Rwanda and China. Kagame reiterated Rwanda's firm adherence to the one-China policy and support for China's national reunification.

He thanked China's leadership for promoting peace, security and cooperation in Africa and reaffirmed Rwanda's commitment to strengthening governance exchanges, advancing practical cooperation and jointly implementing the three global initiatives proposed by Xi.

Following the meeting, the two sides issued a joint statement on promoting and implementing the three global initiatives: the Global Security Initiative, the Global Development Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative.

During the summit, China and Rwanda also signed several bilateral cooperation agreements, covering areas such as honey exports to China, digital and information communication, and media cooperation. By Hilka Birns, CH Aviation