The Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Minister, Hon. Hanna Serwaa Tetteh has interacted with her visiting Chinese counterpart, Mr. Wang Yi, in Accra on Wednesday.

The meeting which was on bilateral talks and deepening of already existing relationship was also attended by Ghana’s sector Ministers of Education, Finance, Information, Education, Defense and Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation.

Welcoming the Minister and his entourage which included the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Gong Jianzhong; Madam Hanna Tetteh expressed Ghana’s appreciation to the Government and people of the People’s Republic of China for their continuous support in diverse ways.

She said the cordial relationship between the two countries dates back to the time of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and Chairman Mao, ex-Chinese President, more than five decades ago.

The Minister calls for the strengthening and deepening of existing cooperation between Ghana and China for the mutual benefit of citizens of the two nations.

She also acknowledges China’s commitment to enhancing and developing not only Ghana, but the African continent at large, which is evidenced by the heavy investment in both financial and technical support to help transform Africa and to bring it at par with the developed world.

The two Ministers also agreed to enhance their relationship and to also open up other areas of cooperation which will have enormous benefit and immense effect on the people of the two countries.

In his response, Mr. Wang Yi thanked his Ghanaian counterpart for receiving him and his delegation and indicated his optimism for the enhancement of the fruitful relationship between the two countries.

He disclosed that the main purpose for his visit to Ghana is to encourage and maintain the two nation’s traditional friendliness and discuss further bilateral cooperation for the benefit of Ghana.

He is of the view that his visit, which anchored on bilateral talks on matters of interests for both China and Ghana, will achieve its objective and to further project their outstanding relationship to another height.

The Chinese Foreign Minister disclosed that since the assumption of office of President John Dramani Mahama, the relationship between them and Ghana has improved rapidly and that Ghana has been a household name in China hence the heavy Chinese investment in the country.

He said China is ready to invest more in Ghana and Africa at large in multiplicity areas so as to bring balance and fairness in the world’s economy.

On the influx of Chinese illegal miners in the country, the Minister responded that, the phenomenon poses a lot of concern to his Government and that they are putting in rigorous measures to curtail the menace.

He called on Ghana to also on their part strengthen their immigration and customs sectors to help prevent illegal immigrants into the country. He also called for total support on the side of Ghana in dealing and finding lasting solutions to the challenge of Chinese citizens who are engaged in illegal mining.

He said the activities of the illegal Chinese miners which resulted in their forced repatriation back to China in 2013, will not derail the relationship between his country and that of Ghana.