The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, on Wednesday, cut the tape to formally open a new Consulate General at Guangzhou, China.

The new office which is located within a prime and serene environment will offer support to Ghanaian and Chinese business activities, as well as provide them with expediting consular services to facilitate trade and investment promotion between Ghana and China, the Minister noted.

She said, "With the new Consulate, therefore, the long journey these businessmen and women had to endure to go to Beijing for visas and other trade facilitation processes would be over since the Consulate-General is here to manage all these concerns."

The Minister said the office will also help in the promotion of a crucial agenda for foreign investment and international trade which face a fair amount of challenges.

Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs was joined by Vice Governor of the Guangdong Province of China, Mr Ouyanf Weimin and Ghana's Ambassador to China, Mr Edward Boateng to cut the tape for official business to begin.

Addressing the gathering, Madam Ayorkor Botchwey said the Guangzhou Consulate-General of the Republic of Ghana had its Consular District covering the Guangdong, Fujian and Hainan Provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

The Minister said when she visited China last year, she had discussions with Mr Ouyanf Weimin and requested that he assisted Ghana to acquire land for an office building.

She urged the Governor’s office to give it “priority consideration to further deepen the cooperation and friendship between our two countries,” she stated.

The Foreign Minister said she was happy to be back in the beautiful city of Guangzhou to open the newly established Consulate.

She said she was humbled to have the various Chinese officials to grace the occasion and extended best regards from Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to the Chinese President Xi Jinping and the officials.

Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey stressed that China remained the largest trade partner of Ghana and many other African countries and they considered this a decisive factor in the further development of the relations.

She recalled that in 1971, Ghana was one of the countries that led the way to get China unto the United Nations Security Council.

Since then, the Foreign Minister said the relations between Ghana and China had improved significantly.

She expressed appreciation to the government of the People’s Republic of China for accepting that Ghana’s Consulate-General was established in the city of Guangzhou.

The Minister advised Ghanaians, who travelled to China to do business or seek business partners and those with resident permits, to be law abiding.

In his welcome address, Ghana’s Ambassador to China, Mr Edward Boateng, said in 2018 foreign trade volume between Ghana and China registered US$7.25b, up by 8.7 per cent and topped the list among all African countries.

Meanwhile, he said over 1,000 wells aided by China, were accomplished, benefiting people living in over 830 villages.

The Chinese Vice Governor traced the relationship between China and Ghana which dates very far back and said she was hopeful that the already cordial relationship will be further strengthened.

Present was the Consulate General for Guangzhou, Mr Samuel Yaw Nsiah.