China, Ghana celebrate 62nd anniversary of friendship treaty

ACCRA, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- China and Ghana celebrated their 62nd anniversary of the signing of a friendship treaty in Ghana's capital Accra late Friday, marking a long-lasting and beneficial friendship between the two countries.

During the celebration, Chinese Ambassador to Ghana Lu Kun said in a statement that China and Ghana have always been very good friends and would work more to facilitate the people-to-people exchange between the two countries.

Aikins Abrokwa, the director for the Asia and Pacific Bureau at Ghana's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation, said that engagements between Ghana and China over the years have been mutually beneficial.

"The frequent engagements by officials from Ghana and China at the bilateral and multilateral levels have yielded very concrete dividends in recent times, including boosting the trade relations, with Chinese investments in various sectors such as manufacturing and energy, agriculture, and the service sector recording considerable growth," said Abrokwa.

He commended the Chinese government for demonstrating true friendship by responding positively to the request by the Ghanaian government to restructure its debt, resulting in the country securing a 3-billion-U.S.-dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund.

The director also commended the Ghana-China Friendship Association (GHACHIFA) for driving an agenda for enhanced cooperation between the two countries.

Anani Demuyakor, the chairman of GHACHIFA and former Ghanaian ambassador to China, told Xinhua there is a need to move the relationship between the two countries to another level.

"China-Ghana relations have been improving since immemorial, but now we have to inject some new blood and vigor for us to go even higher," said Demuyakor.

China and Ghana established diplomatic relationship in 1960, and the two countries signed the friendship treaty the following year.