First Lady in China to boost economic cooperation

Ghana’s First Lady Mrs. Rebecca Akufo- Addo is visiting the People’s Republic of China on Monday, November 20, 2017 to deepen relations between the two countries.

She is being accompanied by the Minister of State in charge of Tertiary Education, Prof. Kojo Yankah, Dr. Stella Ennim, Director of Crop Research Institute (CSI) , and Millicent Degraft – Johnson from the Ministry of finance.

The First Lady’s trip follows the visit of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to China in June and the subsequent visit of the Vice Minister of Commerce of China, Mr. Qian Keming to Ghana in September and will further deepen relations and as well as strengthen economic cooperation between Ghana and China.

During the visit, the First Lady will support the President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) to open the first Ghana trade and Investment Office in Qingdao in China. In addition, the delegation will travel to Hunan where they will meet provincial officials and visit the laboratory of “the father of rice” Mr. Yuan Long Pin, investor of the hybrid rice variety to discuss how China could assist Ghana to improve its yield in her rice production.

The First Lady will then proceed to Shenzhen in the Guangdong Province to meet the officials of China National Building Materials (CNBM) who are working with Ghana on her “One District One Factory “ initiative and also visit Huawei Headquarters to hold discussions with their officials.

On her way to Ghana, Mrs. Akufo-Addo will make a stopover at Hong Kong to meet with the Hong Kong Financial and Investment community.

“The visit by the First Lady follows recent high level exchanges between the two countries and is an indication of the importance His Excellency, Nana Akufo-Addo’s government attaches to Ghana – China relations,” Ghana’s Ambassador to China, Edward Boateng said.

The First Lady is expected to return on November 29, 2017.