The Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Sun Baohong, has said China wants a more deepened bilateral cooperation with Ghana in 2016.

“This year, we hope that we can all double our efforts and intensify cooperation with Ghana to carry out more win-win cooperation for the benefit of both countries,” she said.

She added that there will be fruitful interactions with Ghanaian businesses and the government on how to promote cooperation in various sectors; especially in production capacity, industrialisation, agriculture, modernisation and infrastructure.

Speaking at an event to celebrate the new year with Chinese people in Ghana, Ms. Baohong stated that the main task in 2016 is to see implementation of the consensus reached between Presidents John Dramani Mahama and Xi Jinping on the side-lines of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, which came off in Johannesburg last year, to deepen cooperation between the two countries.

The ceremony saw almost a thousand Chinese citizens gather to mark the new-year. The event, organised by the China Enterprises Chamber of Commerce in Ghana, came off at the Kempinski Hotel and was interspersed with traditional Chinese music, dance and poetry.

“I wish all the Chinese in Ghana a happy new year, and I think over the past year they have made great efforts in promoting the bilateral cooperation between China and Ghana. We have seen the achievements registered and we are very proud of their achievements,” she added.

The ambassador noted that in 2014, China-Ghana trade volume hit US$5.6billion and reached US$3billion in the first half of 2015, with Ghana’s export to China rising by 21 percent.

On development projects, she added that the Kpong Water Supply Expansion Project, an important livelihood project financed and contracted by China, was put into operation last year. Also, the China-aided University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ho and the Cape Coast Sports Stadium were opened.

She added that the sound relations between the countries lie in the amity between their people. “The friendship between our people is the motive power that propels the continuous and sustained development of China-Ghana friendly cooperation.”

The Chinese Enterprises Chamber of Commerce in Ghana (CECCG), a joint and non-profitable organisation of Chinese companies in Ghana, was founded in February 2007 under the auspices of the Economic and Counsellor’s Office of the Embassy of China in Ghana.

The chamber’s mission is to promote the communication and cooperation of Chinese enterprises in Ghana, to broaden the understanding and interaction of Chinese enterprises with Ghanaian industrial fields, to represent the members of the organisation and to protect the legal rights of Chinese enterprises, to guide and coordinate the legal operations and ensure fair and healthy competition among members.

The chamber is aimed at reinforcing the healthy and rapid development of the China-Ghana economic relationship, to perform as a tight bond in the economic communication between China and Ghana in the industrial world.