The ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Rwanda, Shen Yongxiang, has vowed to advocate for stronger ties between the legislative organs of the two countries.

Shen made the pledge on Wednesday at Parliament Buildings during a courtesy call on the Speaker of Parliament, Donatille Mukabalisa.

Addressing the media after the meeting, the envoy said both parliaments have the will to promote mutually beneficial cooperation, owing to the message he had from the president of China parliament.

"There are a lot of things to exchange and learn from each other because we have many similarities. There are things that China learns from Rwanda like the excellent work in environment protection and corruption prevention and China values a lot these efforts of Rwanda,” Shen said, adding that the Rwandan Parliament has been very active in the fight against corruption.

Speaker Mukabalisa appreciated the efforts by both countries to strengthen cooperation in different sectors.

"Amb. Shen had delivered a message from the head of the Chinese Parliament, then we discussed ways to enhance the two countries’ cooperation in general and the cooperation between parliaments of both countries in particular,” she said.

Mukabalisa added that there is an already existing cooperation between the two parliaments but they are looking at enhancing it.

She said they also dwelt on Chinese investments in the country and discussed ways to improve the flow of these investments in Rwanda, which will increase employment opportunities for Rwandans and also help reduce the import-export deficit that Rwanda is currently faced with.

To attract more investors, Amb. Shen assured of Beijing support to increase energy access in Rwanda.

The cooperation between the two countries covers infrastructure, agriculture, health and education, among others.

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