GUYANA and the People’s Republic of China pledged to continue bilateral cooperation Wednesday night, when the latter hosted a reception, at its Mandela Avenue, Georgetown Embassy, to mark the 63rd anniversary of its founding.

The celebration was attended by several government ministers, other Members of Parliament (MPs), among them from the Opposition and the Diplomatic Corps.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, performing the functions of the Office of President, told the gathered guests of this government’s intention to expand economic ties with China.
He reaffirmed that Guyana is committed to work more closely with China to strengthen bilateral consultative mechanisms and have even more frequent exchanges on multilateral issues.
Mr. Hinds restated Guyana’s appreciation of China’s steadfast support to this country and people over the past 40 years and said it will be diversifying trade and facilitating closer exchanges between respective private sector bodies.
Guyana also looks forward to collaborating with China on matters of concern, including food security and climate change.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister lauded the successful ventures between the two countries, experienced as a result of the 40 years of bilateral relations.
And, aside from the infrastructural projects, Hinds said Guyana and its people have had the opportunity to experience the vibrant culture of the Chinese and expressed confidence that the establishment of the Confucius Institute at the University of Guyana (UG) will usher in a new era of cultural cooperation between the two countries.
The Prime Minister, noting that it was China’s Ambassador to Guyana, Mr. Yu Wenzhe’s last National Day function here, praised the relations between the two nations, remarking that China has always regarded Guyana as good friend and a reliable partner.
Mr. Hinds described the relationship between the two countries as a smooth, sound and special one and said the decades of diplomatic relations have benefitted significantly from supporting each other.

DERIVED BENEFIT
He stated that Guyana, specifically, has derived benefit from projects such as the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) initiative, which saw the Chinese Government supplying thousands of computers.
The Prime Minister identified other areas of assistance which include training of Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Air Corps pilots and engineers, donation of two new roll-on-roll-off ferry vessels and millions of dollars in aid.
Additionally, the Guyana International Conference Centre was funded by a grant provided by the Chinese Government and the Chinese also built the Skeldon Sugar Factory and have been lending their medical expertise over the past 20 years.
Ambassador Yu said China has made remarkable achievements in the past 63 years, particularly over the past 34 years of reform and opening up.
He said what has been achieved could best be reflected in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and People and Peaceful Development.
The envoy said China has maintained an average GDP growth of about 10 percent over the past three decades and it stands now as the second largest economy in the world.
The diplomat noted that China’s GDP in 2011 was 100 times larger, comparing it with that of 1978, the year China adopted the policy of reform and opening up.
He said China’s contribution to the world economic growth was well over 20 percent in recent years.
He said the Chinese Government pursues a people centred development and with the development of the national economy, the livelihood of the Chinese peoples has improved significantly.
Yu said, over the past 30 years, some 250 million people in China have been lifted out of poverty and the average life expectancy has now increased to 73.5 years.
He said China pursues a path of peaceful development and, like many developing countries, it is faced with the task of further developing the national economy and improving the people’s living standards, and needs a peaceful and stable international environment.
Yu said, on the other hand, China’s development will, in turn, helps to maintain world peace and stability.

STEADY GROWTH
According to him, China has always regarded Guyana as a good friend and reliable partner and since the establishment of diplomatic relations 40 years ago, it has maintained a steady growth.
“In my humble opinion, our cordial relationship could be best described in three words, smooth, sound and special,” he offered.
He said sound because China-Guyana relationship has stood the test of time and remained firm and vigorous, despite twists and turns in the international and regional arena.
“We treated each other as close friends and good brothers. We supported each other on many bilateral, regional and international issues.”
Yu confirmed that Guyana has adhered to the one China policy and China has, all along, supported Guyana in its efforts to advance economic and social development.
He said the successful visit, last year, by Zhang Gaoli, Member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), further enhanced the political trust and pragmatic cooperation between the two countries.
Over the past 40 years, China-Guyana bilateral relations have witnessed rapid and stable development and China has become Guyana’s fifth largest importer and one of Guyana’s main non-traditional export markets.
He reported that the bilateral trade has risen from a modest US$1M, in the early days of diplomatic ties, to US$147M in 2011 and economic cooperation has extended from infrastructure, agriculture, timber and minerals to the field of modern technology, such as ICT and Chinese direct investment in Guyana reached US$183M last year.
“Our mutually beneficial cooperation has brought many tangible benefits to our two peoples. We are glad that the two roll on-roll off ferries have started to ply the mighty Essequibo River between Parika and Supenaam, greatly facilitating the movement of people and goods and there are some other projects currently in the pipelines,” Ambassador Yu said.
He gave the assurance that China will continue to provide assistance to the best of its ability to help Guyana in its social and economic development and, at the same time, the Chinese Government will support and encourage well-established companies to invest in Guyana and conduct mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields.
He said what is special is that, as early as 1853, the first group of Chinese travelled thousands of miles across the ocean and arrived in Guyana. They made important contributions to the development of Guyana in those days.
And, in recent years, the people-to-people exchanges between two countries are on a dynamic note. This year witnessed the arrival of the tenth batch of Chinese medical experts and the departure of eight Guyanese students to China on Chinese Government scholarships.
Yu said there has been frequent two-way cultural exchanges, including the visit by a Chinese folk music ensemble, the art and photo exhibition which focused on 40 years of China-Guyana relations, the issuing of commemorative stamps, the Chinese movie week, etc., and those serve to deepen the  mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples.