by Justice Lee Adoboe and Seth Tei Gafah
ACCRA, April 6 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government will from this year begin financing of a major fishing landing site at the James Town Beach in Ghana's capital, the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana Sun Baohong said Friday.
Sun and Ghana's Minister for Finance Kenneth Ofori-Atta signed and exchanged notes to this effect at a brief ceremony.
The Chinese ambassador said both the James Town fishing port project and the phase two of the University of Health and Allied Sciences will be funded by the Chinese government.
"At the request of Ghana government we are providing development assistance within our capacity. The project providing satellite TV for 300 villages in Ghana will be implemented in May. And the James Town Fishing Port Complex will kick off within this year," Sun said.
There is also an ongoing feasibility studies on the phase two of the university as well as feasibility for a cocoa processing project in Sefwi Wiawso in Ghana's Western Region, while China has also begun the donation of police vehicles and equipments.
"We do not attach any political strings to our aid to Ghana, and the nature of aid is for development and we fully support Ghana Beyond Aid initiative of the government and we wish that this aspiration will be realized with the help of international partners," the ambassador said.
The Chinese government, according to Sun, hopes that the projects will improve the infrastructure of Ghana and increase the driving force of Ghana's economy.
Last year, economic and trade cooperation between the two countries grew strongly as bilateral trade reached 6.67 billion U.S. dollars, representing an increase of 11.7 percent. China is Ghana's largest trading partner and Ghana's export to China surpassed 1.85 billion dollars last year.
China's financial investment in Ghana last year reached 123 million dollars, covering 25 projects, and the number of projects ranked top among all the foreign investment countries in the West African country.
Ofori-Atta expressed gratitude to the Chinese government for its continued support for Ghana, with the expectation that the project will ensure job creation in the fisheries sector.
"Today's signing ceremony marks yet another important milestone in the bilateral economic relations between Ghana and the People's Republic of China as it affirms our commitments and determination to broaden and deepen the bilateral cooperation between the two countries," the minister said.