{"id":67757,"date":"2026-04-10T16:53:45","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T16:53:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lesotho-china-sign-protocol-on-waiving-partial-loans"},"modified":"2026-04-10T16:53:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T16:53:45","slug":"lesotho-china-sign-protocol-on-waiving-partial-loans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lesotho-china-sign-protocol-on-waiving-partial-loans","title":{"rendered":"LESOTHO, CHINA SIGN PROTOCOL ON WAIVING PARTIAL LOANS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\">           <strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Lesotho. <\/strong>         <\/span>Ties between Lesotho and the People\u2019s Republic of China were strengthened during the signing of a protocol on waiving partial loans between the two countries.<\/p>\n<p>The ceremony, held on Thursday, saw Finance and Development Planning Minister, Dr. Rets\u2019elisitsoe Matlanyane, signing on behalf of the Lesotho government, while Ambassador of China to Lesotho, Yang Xiaokun, signed for his government.<\/p>\n<p>In her address, Minister Matlanyane said the protocol entails China waiving two interest-free loans with a total disbursed amount of M214.466 million, which were due for repayment by the end of December 2024.<\/p>\n<p>She explained that M119.805 million was allocated under the 2011 Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement for the refurbishment of the Manthabiseng Convention Centre, while M95.804 million was allocated under the 2012 agreement for the JUNCAO Mushroom Cultivation Project.<\/p>\n<p>Minister Matlanyane expressed delight for both the government and people of Lesotho, noting that the decision provides crucial relief to Lesotho\u2019s public debt portfolio and will contribute positively to the country\u2019s debt management and fiscal consolidation efforts.<\/p>\n<p>Ambassador Xiaokun shared similar sentiments, stating that the waiver follows President Xi Jinping\u2019s announcement that China would cancel intergovernmental interest-free loans due by the end of 2024 for least developed African countries with diplomatic ties to China.<\/p>\n<p>He added that the signing is a testament to the consistent principles underpinning China\u2019s cooperation with Africa. \u201cWe value the sovereignty and independent choices of African countries and never interfere in their internal affairs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The Ambassador also highlighted that Chinese enterprises have created over 1.1 million jobs in Africa over the past three years.<\/p>\n<p>Relations between Lesotho and China have spanned various sectors, including the construction of the State Library, the New Parliament Building, and the Maseru District Hospital among others.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">           Find more news and analyses on           <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Lesotho<\/span>           on the           <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span>           website         <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Lesotho. Ties between Lesotho and the People\u2019s Republic of China were strengthened during the signing of a protocol on waiving partial loans between the two countries. The ceremony, held on Thursday, saw Finance and Development Planning Minister, Dr. Rets\u2019elisitsoe Matlanyane, signing on behalf of the Lesotho government, while Ambassador of China to Lesotho, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":67756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[245],"class_list":["post-67757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>LESOTHO, CHINA SIGN PROTOCOL ON WAIVING PARTIAL LOANS - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lesotho-china-sign-protocol-on-waiving-partial-loans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LESOTHO, CHINA SIGN PROTOCOL ON WAIVING PARTIAL LOANS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press &#8211; Lesotho. Ties between Lesotho and the People\u2019s Republic of China were strengthened during the signing of a protocol on waiving partial loans between the two countries. The ceremony, held on Thursday, saw Finance and Development Planning Minister, Dr. Rets\u2019elisitsoe Matlanyane, signing on behalf of the Lesotho government, while Ambassador of China to Lesotho, [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lesotho-china-sign-protocol-on-waiving-partial-loans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-10T16:53:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lesotho-china-sign-protocol-on-waiving-partial-loans#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lesotho-china-sign-protocol-on-waiving-partial-loans\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"LESOTHO, CHINA SIGN PROTOCOL ON WAIVING PARTIAL LOANS\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-10T16:53:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lesotho-china-sign-protocol-on-waiving-partial-loans\"},\"wordCount\":310,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lesotho-china-sign-protocol-on-waiving-partial-loans#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2026\/04\/sm_1775843940.69421.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lesotho-china-sign-protocol-on-waiving-partial-loans#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lesotho-china-sign-protocol-on-waiving-partial-loans\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lesotho-china-sign-protocol-on-waiving-partial-loans\",\"name\":\"LESOTHO, CHINA SIGN PROTOCOL ON WAIVING PARTIAL LOANS - 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