GUYANA and China will today sign several agreements during the visit of State Councillor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, Mr. Wang Yi.
The signing will take place at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre, Railway Embankment Road, Georgetown, Guyana. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Vice-President and Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge and Mr. Wang, will sign the agreements on behalf of their respective governments.

The agreements to be signed are the “Framework Agreement Provision of a Concessional Loan between the Government of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and the Government of the People’s Republic of China” and “The Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation between the Government of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and Government of the People’s Republic of China.”

Simultaneously, a hand-over ceremony will be held to mark China’s contribution to support the hosting by the Government of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana of the 17th Session of the Committee for the Review and Implementation of the Convention (CRIC 17) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), scheduled to take place early next year in Georgetown.

In a recent release, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here had said that Guyana and China have maintained a vibrant programme of mutually beneficial cooperation through frequent and diverse activities, including successful exchange visits at the highest level over the past four and a half decades.

Wang Yi was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2013. Since joining the Chinese Foreign Service after completing his studies at the Beijing Second Foreign Language Institute in 1982, he has held a number of posts, including as vice-minister of foreign affairs and ambassador to Japan.

The visit comes close to two months after Guyana and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) within the Framework of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative. The pact paves the way for cooperation between the two countries in five critical areas, namely: policy coordination; facilities connectivity; trade and investment; financial integration; and people-to-people interaction.

When Guyana signed on to the Silk Road Initiative, Minister Greenidge had indicated that major emphasis would be placed on infrastructural development during the initial phases of the implementation of the agreement. It is likely that possible projects under the initiative would come up for discussion in the meetings, which will be held later this week. Guyana and China established diplomatic relations in 1972.