People in Lesotho expect Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to the country will deepen bilateral cooperation between China and Lesotho.
Wang is visiting Africa, continuing the unbroken 36-year tradition of Chinese foreign ministers choosing Africa as their first overseas destination each year. Lesotho is the final stop of his African trip from January 7 to 12.
Many people in Lesotho believe the visit will strengthen bilateral cooperation in infrastructure, agriculture, and trade.
Moretlo Letebele, a resident of Maseru, the capital city of Lesotho, said the Ha Mpiti-Sehlabathebe Road, one of the key projects of China-Lesotho cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, has already reshaped daily life in Lesotho.
"It's now easier to get to facilities. It has helped us in terms of tourism, in terms of health. Getting to the clinics is now easier. In terms of tourism, getting to our National Park, it's now easier, because it was a travel route that used to take an hour and a half to get to. So now it's easier -- it now takes a few minutes to get there," she said.
China has also supported agricultural initiatives in Lesotho, including storage and logistics facilities aimed at strengthening food security.
Projects such as Juncao mushroom cultivation have introduced new farming techniques, which have helped rural households generate income and reduce vulnerability to economic and climate shocks.
Experts said the timing of the foreign minister's visit is significant for the country.
Lesotho's textile sector -- one of the country's biggest employers -- was badly hit last year after steep tariffs imposed by the Trump administration restricted access to the U.S. market, leading to factory closures and job losses.
"Lesotho is a big textile exporter. It's a big producer of textiles and the manufacturing of fabrics and all these kinds of things. So for China, this is an important sector. It also produces a lot there. Lesotho is also a strategic partner. Lesotho is a very important producer of textile within the SADC (Southern African Development Community) region," said Jervin Naidoo, a political economist at Oxford Economics Africa, an economic advisory firm based in South Africa.
Still recovering from recent economic shocks, Lesotho is closely watching Wang Yi's visit for signs of deeper cooperation in trade, investment, and other sectors that will benefit the small nation and its people, experts said.
Lesotho looks to deeper cooperation ahead of Chinese FM's visit
China's two major power grid operators -- the State Grid Corporation of China (State Grid) and China Southern Power Grid (CSG) -- reported a surge in investment in the first quarter of 2026, underscoring efforts to strengthen infrastructure construction and support high-quality socioeconomic development in China.
The State Grid said it completed fixed-asset investment worth 129 billion yuan (about 18.77 billion U.S. dollars) in the first three months of this year, up 37 percent the corresponding period of the previous year. The spending has driven more than 250 billion yuan (36 billion U.S. dollars) of investment across the wider industrial chain.
Key projects such as the Panxi ultra-high-voltage (UHV) alternating current (AC) line and the Anhui-Hubei back-to-back direct current (DC) project have seen ground broken for their construction, while several west-to-east power transmission projects have been upgraded.
Investment in connecting renewable energy generation to the grid was reported to have exceeded 10 billion yuan (1.45 billion U.S. dollars) from January to March, a year-on-year rise of more than 50 percent.
The CSG also reported robust growth in investment in the three-month period, with fixed-asset investment reaching 38.45 billion yuan (5.58 billion U.S. dollars), up about 50 percent from a year earlier.
Among its achievements, the company completed and commissioned 80 key projects, including the 220 kV cross-sea power grid interconnection project, which was officially put into operation on March 20. The project ended years of grid isolation on the Weizhou Island in south China by linking it to the main power system of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The construction of 17 other major energy projects, including one linking the power grid of the Xizang Autonomous Region in southwest China with that of Guangdong Province in south China, is advancing rapidly. These projects are expected to bolster regional industries, the maritime economy, digital collaboration and the transition to green energy.
"By accelerating major project construction, investment during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030) is expected to approach 1 trillion yuan (145 billion U.S. dollars), driving a further 2 trillion yuan (290 billion U.S. dollars) of investment across upstream and downstream industries," said Dong Yanle, deputy general manager of the Engineering Construction Department under the China Southern Power Grid.
China ramps up power grid investment in January-March to boost growth
