Chinese Ambassador to Guyana Zhang Limin met with President David Granger yesterday at the Ministry of the Presidency, following which he said the meeting focused on how bilateral ties between the two countries could be improved.
GINA said that the ambassador, who described Guyana and its people as a friend of China, noted that the two countries have enjoyed a long traditional friendship.
The economic assistance in various sectors which has been provided by China to Guyana will continue, the ambassador added.
Guyana’s deep relations with China have brought benefits for the country as approximately 34 Guyanese products are exported to China on a yearly basis, GINA reported. Further, in 2012, Guyana received two new roll-on/roll-off ferry vessels, and benefited from military air corps pilot and engineer training from China. Laptops for the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) programme were also supplied by Chinese companies.
Chinese medical missions have also been visiting Guyana over the last 20 years to supplement health care services.
In recent years both APNU and the AFC which now form the new coalition government had been heavy critical of deals struck between Chinese companies and the former PPP/C government. They were described as not transparent and containing provisions which were unacceptable, including in some cases the exclusive use of Chinese labour, Several of the projects which were being worked on by these Chinese companies were later affected by budget cuts applied by APNU and the AFC. Chinese forestry company Baishanlin has also attracted strong criticism for the export of logs.
