On June 12, Ambassador GAO Wenqi attended the donation ceremony of “Panda Pack Sports Packages”and delivered a speech at GS Camp Kanombe in Kigali. Also in attendance were Hon. Claudette Irere, Minister of State for Education, Mr. Antoine Mutsinzi, District Executive Administrator of Kicukiro and other representatives from local government, Ms. Yin Qian from China Foundation for Rural Development (CFRD).Over a hundred local teachers and students participated in this event.Counselor GAO Zhiqiang of the Embassy was present.
In his remarks, Ambassador GAO stated that sports bridge China and Rwanda through tightening people-to-people bonds, noting that the health and development of youth is vital for the future of China-Rwanda bilateral relations. Taking the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges, and the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Rwanda as an opportunity, China is ready to implement more “small yet smart” projects in fields such as education, health, and youth empowerment. These efforts aim to support Rwanda’s National Strategy for Transformation (NST2), promote cultural and people-to-people exchanges, and promotehigh-quality development of China-Rwanda Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for the benefit of the two peoples.
Hon. Claudette Irere, Minister of State for education, expressed her gratitude for China’s long-term support for Rwanda’s education sector, noting that sports and youth health are high priorities for Rwandan leadership. She emphasized that Rwanda cherishes its friendship with China and is willing to cultivate more young good-will ambassadors to further promote mutual understanding and people-to-people exchanges between Rwanda and China.
CFRD, in collaboration with Alibaba Philanthropy, donated 850 packs of sports equipment to 114 schools in the suburban areas of Kigali through Rwandan Ministry of Education. Following the ceremony, Ambassador GAO interacted with local students and was interviewed by Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA) among other mainstream media.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of Rwanda.