Chinese Officials singing a song

The Chinese Embassy in Sierra Leone brought the Chinese community and Sierra Leoneans together to celebrate the Spring Festival, also known as Chinese Lunar New Year, at an auspicious event held in Freetown, Sierra Leone's Capital.

Guests were able to watch entertaining performances from the Chinese as well as Sierra Leone's acrobatic team. The Chinese Ambassador to Sierra Leone, His Excellency Wu Peng, described 2018 as a year of harvest for the Chinese People, and added that in spite of all odds they were able to push the Chinese economy towards higher-quality development, speed up the replacement of the old drivers of growth, and keep the major economic indicators within a reasonable range.

China's economy expanded by 6.6 percent and total volume exceeded 90 trillion RMB for the first time in history (about 13.6 trillion US dollars).

Wu Peng, Chinese Ambassador to Sierra Leone

"We made great strides in our poverty alleviation efforts in the last year," said the Chinese Ambassador, who further revealed that 10 million poverty-stricken rural residents were lifted out of poverty, and it is estimated that over 400 million people in China now belong to the middle-income bracket.

The combined forces of Chinese manufacturing, Chinese innovation, and Chinese construction have continued to change the face of the country, said Ambassador Wu. He named a number of examples, including the successful launch of their Chang'e-4 lunar probe, the supergiant sea-crossing project Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Marco Bridge opening to traffic, and the BeiDou Satellite Navigation System going global.

He called for a stronger relationship between Sierra Leone and China in implementing the important consensus reached by the two Heads of State, to maintain high-level exchanges, and enhance political mutual trust. The Chinese Ambassador pledged his country's willingness to implement the results of the FOCAC Beijing Summit with the Sierra Leonean side, push the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, work with other international development partners, and take some good tangible results to Sierra Leone.

In his response speech, Sierra Leone's Foreign Minister, Dr. Alie Kabba, underscored the significant gains his country has made with China's support in 2018, by signing agreements that will leverage human capital development and socio-economic transformation of the West African nation. "We are in celebration of the Spring Festival with you as a reflection of our commitment towards the full implementation of development projects emanating from those agreements, which are impacting the lives of our citizens," the Minister remarked, assuring his audience that with China's continuous support, Sierra Leone will attain greater heights of success and realize the long-cherished goal of achieving national cohesion and socio-economic transformation.