Chinese Ambassador to Botswana Fan Yong Publishes an Article on the Friendship between China and Botswana over the Past 50 Years

2025-01-16 23:10

On 10th and 12th January 2025, Chinese Ambassador H.E. Mr. Fan Yong published an article titled Friendship Extending Over 50 Years, Forging Ahead Together Toward A New Era in the local newspaper Mmegi, the Patriot and Botswana Guardian. The full text is as follows:

Fifty years ago, representatives of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Botswana signed a Communiqué on the establishment of diplomatic relations at the United Nations. Therefore, January 6th 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between China and Botswana. Now 5 decades later, China-Botswana relations have continued to strengthen political mutual trust on the basis of profound traditional friendship, with blooming practical cooperation in various fields , yielding tangible benefits to the people of the two countries.



In 1971, despite the fact that China and Botswana had not yet established diplomatic relations, Botswana voted firmly in favor of China's restoring of its lawful seat in the U.N. In 1974, the founding President of Botswana, Sir Seretse Khama, presided over a two-day Cabinet meeting, and ultimately decided to establish diplomatic relations with China, which laid a solid foundation for the friendship, development and cooperation between the two countries in the upcoming five decades.

Over the past 50 years, the political mutual trust between China and Botswana has strengthened as time went by. Leaders of the two countries have always viewed and promoted bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, and have always insisted on mutual respect, equal treatment and win-win cooperation. Botswana has always firmly adhered to the one-China principle and supported China's reunification, and the two sides understand and support each other on issues related to each other's core interests and major concerns. During the Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2024, the leaders of our two countries declared the establishment of a strategic partnership, which unveiled a brand-new chapter in the development of our bilateral relations.

A new government was formed in Botswana in November 2024, with smooth and successful first-time transfer of power since the country's independence . In December, H.E. Mr. Shao Hong, Vice-Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) , visited Botswana, and met with H.E. Mr. Duma Boko, President of Botswana, and Hon. Mr. Dithapelo Keorapetse, the Speaker of the National Assembly of Botswana. Mr. Shao extended congratulations to the new government of Botswana and conveyed the cordial greetings from the Chinese Leaders, saying that China attaches great importance to the China-Botswana relations, supports the new government's governance initiatives, and is willing to work with Botswana to implement the outcomes of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, to jointly promote modernization, and make greater contributions to building an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.



Over the past 50 years, China and Botswana have achieved fruitful results for mutual benefit. The total trade volume between China and Botswana grew from less than 500,000 US dollars in the early 1980s to 779 million US dollars as of September 2024, an increase of more than 1,500 times. China's direct investment in Botswana amounted to 29.98 million US dollars from January to September 2024, an increase of eight times year-on-year. China has become one of Botswana's largest trading partners. The economies of China and Botswana are highly complementary, and mutually beneficial in fields of trade, industry, agriculture, minerals, clean energy, education and health care.

In the field of people's livelihood, China has always kept on providing Botswana with support and assistance. China has already financed more than 60 projects in Botswana through the provision of grants, interest-free and concessional loans, including the renovation of railroads, the construction of highways, the building of residential houses, the construction of primary schools, the donation of epidemic-prevention materials, and the provision of medical services and so on.

In the field of medical cooperation, China has dispatched a total of more than 500 medical personnel to Botswana in 17 batches, wholeheartedly providing the people of Botswana with high-quality medical services, helping Botswana promote the development of its medical faculty, and treating a total of approximately 3 million local patients. The 17th batch of medical teams to Botswana, consisting of 46 members, is now carrying out a two-year foreign aid medical mission.

In the field of education, China has in recent years, successively built four primary schools for Botswana, located in Serowe, Maun, Mmopane and Kasane respectively, which greatly alleviate the problem of local children's difficulty in accessing school. From 1999 to now, more than 1,700 Botswana government officials, experts and technicians have been invited to China to participate in various seminars, short-term training programs.

Over the past 50 years, the friendship between Chinese and Botswana people has deepened, and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries have become more frequent. The friendship of nations lies in the affinity of people. As tens of thousands of Chinese have come to Botswana for investment, more and more of them dwell in Botswana and build the country, making active contributions to Botswana's economic and social development and job creation. As a result, Chinese culture is now widely spread in Botswana. The two Confucius Institutes in Botswana, one in Gaborone and the other in Palapye, have enrolled more than 15,000 local people to learn Chinese language and culture, building a bridge of friendship, and making important contributions to the promotion of Chinese language teaching, the dissemination of Chinese culture, and the enhancement of mutual understanding between the people of China and Botswana.



In early December 2024, “Embrace