Ghana

Note: This column mainly includes countries along the Belt and Road and countries that have signed cooperation agreements with China on Belt and Road Initiative.

The year 2013 saw smooth progress in the friendly and cooperative relations between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Ghana, and exchanges and cooperation in various areas continued to deepen.

High-level exchanges maintained good momentum. In January, as the Special Envoy of President Hu Jintao, Minister of Water Resources Chen Lei attended the inauguration ceremony of Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama and met with President Mahama. In May, CPPCC Vice Chairman Ma Biao visited Ghana and met with Vice President Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur and Speaker of the Parliament Edward Doe Adjaho respectively. The two sides reached extensive consensus on further advancing bilateral ties and enhancing exchanges and cooperation between the CPPCC National Committee and the Parliament of Ghana. In November, Huang Xianyao, member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee and Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, led a CPC friendship delegation to Ghana and met with Kwabena Adjei, President of the ruling National Democratic Congress Party.

In March, President Mahama sent a congratulatory message to President Xi Jinping on his election. In September, Ghana's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Hannah Tetteh attended the third round of Political Consultations between Chinese and African Foreign Ministers on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. In 2013, a number of officials from Ghana visited China, including Minister for Roads and Highways Amin Amidu Sulemani, Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing Collins Dauda and Minister for Energy and Petroleum Emmanuel Armarh Kofi Buah.

Economic and trade cooperation produced fruitful results. The office building of the Ghanaian Foreign Ministry and two rural primary schools built by China were handed over to Ghana. Also in 2013, a number of China-assisted projects were started, including the Cape Coast stadium, the Medical University in Volta Region and a vocational school project. In December, Ghana's second largest hydro-power station-BUI Hydroelectric Power Station, which was undertaken by Chinese companies, completed its construction. President Mahama attended the ceremony celebrating the completion of the project.

Cultural and people-to-people exchanges and cooperation flourished. A Confucius Institute was opened at the University of Ghana. The City of Nanjing and Ghana carried out a series of cultural cooperation activities within the framework of ministerial-provincial cooperation on Africarelated cultural work of China's Ministry of Culture. Nanjing Cultural and Art Troupe performed in Ghana and held the first "Happy Spring Festival and the Night of China" in Ghana; the Jinling Library of Nanjing signed a memorandum of long-term cooperation with Ghana Library Authority, and donated books for the setting up of a special reading zone "Window of Chinese Books" in the national library of Ghana.