Africa-Press – Ghana. Ghana and China have reaffirmed their commitment to deepening diplomatic, economic and cultural ties, marking the 25th Anniversary of the Ghana-China Friendship Association (GHACHIFA) and 65 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The commemorative event, held on Tuesday in Accra, is on the theme: “Strengthening Ties and Inspiring Futures: 25 Years of Friendship, 65 Years of Partnership.”
Mr Tong Defa, Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, hailed the enduring friendship between the two nations as one “rooted in history and nourished by mutual respect.”
“The China-Ghana friendship has a time-honoured tradition. This friendship has taken root under the personal nurturing of old generations of leaders of our two countries,” he said.
“Ghana is one of the earliest countries in Africa to establish diplomatic relations with China. President Nkrumah once said we face neither east- nor west we face forward.”
Citing on historical milestones, Mr Tong recounted how, despite tense conditions following an assassination attempt on Nkrumah in 1964, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai insisted on visiting Ghana, symbolising a steadfast commitment to the relations.
“Premier Zhou had in-depth talks with Nkrumah inside the Castle and even played table tennis together to ease the tension, which deeply touched President Nkrumah.”
He noted that relations had been elevated to a strategic partnership in September 2024, resulting in closer coordination at the multilateral level and stronger trade and investment flows.
Bilateral trade hit an all-time high of US$11.8 billion in 2024, a 7.1 per cent year-on-year increase.
On people-to-people ties, he highlighted the role of Confucius Institutes in Ghana’s major universities, Chinese medical teams at the China-Ghana Friendship Hospital, and educational exchanges that have seen more than 10,000 Ghanaian students study the Chinese Language.
“This friendship continues to bear fruits under the new administration of His Excellency President John Mahama,” he added, revealing that China would offer 200 million RMB in non-reimbursable assistance to Ghana under a newly signed cooperation agreement.
Mr Augustus Goosie Tanoh, Presidential Adviser on the 24-hour Economy, in a speech read on his behalf, praised GHACHIFA’s contribution to strengthening bilateral ties and underlined Ghana’s ambition to modernise the economy.
Mr Tanoh underscored the Government’s commitment to infrastructure reform, job creation, and attracting patient capital.
He invited Chinese investors to explore large-scale projects like the Volta Economic Corridor, a transformative initiative intended to position Ghana as a major hub for food production, processing, and logistics.
Mr Tanoh pledged Ghana’s readiness to serve as a gateway to West Africa’s 420 million-strong market, adding that Chinese firms had a unique capacity to execute massive infrastructure projects.
“Our partnership can become a model of how international cooperation fosters national development and broader regional integration,” he said.
Mr Anani Demuyakor, Chairman of GHACHIFA, offered historical insight into the origin of the Ghana-China friendship, tracing it back to a personal connection between Kwame Nkrumah and Zhou Enlai at the Bandung Conference in Indonesia.
GHACHIFA, he explained, is a people-to-people association based on trust and longevity, echoing a Chinese proverb: “Blood relations and friends don’t have expiry dates.”
Mr Demuyakor urged Ghanaians to look beyond isolated negative actions by a few Chinese nationals and focus on the broader mutual gains.
He called on the media and security agencies to help strengthen bilateral understanding.
“Let us identify the areas and the things they have done well, especially those that they have done better than the Western countries. We should ask ourselves, ‘how did they do it? What lessons are worth learning? How can we learn and adopt their lessons for our national development?,’” he said.
Messages of solidarity and congratulations were received from institutions such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration – Africa-Asia Department; Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Chinese Enterprise Chamber of Commerce; Ghana Chinese Chamber of Commerce; Associations of the Chinese Community in Ghana and the Convention People’s Party.
The event was marked by cultural exchanges, symbolic gestures and renewed calls to uphold the values of cooperation, mutual benefit and shared development.
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