“Ghana is my second home. I will forever love Ghana”, those were the final words of Chinese Ambassador to Ghana Shi Ting Wang who on Friday, June 5, 2020, paid a courtesy call on the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional integration Shirley Ayorkor Botchway to bid farewell to the government and the people of Ghana.

The diplomat who is famed for coordinating a Sino-Ghana response to the COVID-19 pandemic which saw the donation of over 60 metric tons of medical supplies and personal protective equipment to the nation and other 17 beneficiary countries - Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Principe, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of Congo, Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Togo, Benin, and Ivory Coast is ending a two-year tour of duty in Ghana late June this year after a previous term in Malawi.

In a brief remark to the press after his engagement at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Mr Shi Ting Wang stated that: “I was informed by Beijing that I will complete the tenure as the ambassador to Ghana and scheduled to go back to China in late June. My term in Ghana is for two years. That is normal. My previous term in Malawi as an ambassador was also two years. I'm very sorry I have to leave. I love Ghana. I love Ghanaian people. Anyway, as a diplomat, I know you have no choice and coming and going is normal for us. At this moment I must say working in Ghana is the most beautiful memory in my life. Even though my time in Ghana is short, it's about two years only. But I cherish it a lot, especially the friendship with you, with your honourable and honourable deputy ministers. And if I was able to carry out this glorious mission as ambassador to Ghana, it is because of the support from you, thank you. I enjoyed my life and my work here in Ghana and I’m deeply grateful for the past two years that China-Ghana relations have witnessed a strong and fast development.”

He stressed that “It is my great honour to serve my post as ambassador to Ghana. Ghana is my second home. I will forever love Ghana.”

For her part, Ms Botchway indicated that although she was puzzled after the departure of his predecessor “you (Shi Ting Wang) have acquitted yourself so well in this job that you've done for the last two years. And so, my thinking is that the government of China attaches a lot of importance to Ghana and therefore the best of ambassadors are posted to Ghana. In your two years here, the relations have been excellent. The relations which have been already strong is even more strengthened,” the minister said.