Chinese Ambassador to Botswana Fan Yong (2nd R) and Botswanan Vice President and Minister of Finance Ndaba Gaolathe (2nd L) sign an agreement on economic and technical cooperation between the two governments in Gaborone, Botswana, Feb. 27, 2025. (Photo by Tshekiso Tebalo/Xinhua)
GABORONE, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- China and Botswana signed an agreement on economic and technical cooperation between the two governments on Thursday in Gaborone, the capital of the southern African country.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Chinese Ambassador to Botswana Fan Yong said China and Botswana have long enjoyed a strong friendship, yielding fruitful results in practical cooperation. With the implementation of the agreement and other outcomes of the 2024 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, cooperation between the two countries in various fields will be further deepened.
For his part, Botswanan Vice President and Minister of Finance Ndaba Gaolathe praised China's remarkable achievements and expressed gratitude for China's continuous support to Botswana, saying he hopes cooperation with China will contribute to Botswana's economic growth and the well-being of its people.
According to official statistics, in 2023, bilateral trade between China and Botswana reached 710 million U.S. dollars, marking a 15.7 percent year-on-year increase. In the first half of 2024, bilateral trade amounted to 419 million dollars, up 12.5 percent year on year.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Botswana, which were established on Jan. 6, 1975. The two countries' relations were upgraded to a strategic partnership in September 2024.
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