Botswana hopes to deepen cooperation with China across different sectors: minister

Botswana attaches great importance to developing relations with China and is looking forward to deepening bilateral cooperation across different sectors, Botswana's Minister of International Relations Phenyo Butale said ahead of Botswanan President Duma Gideon Boko's visit to China.

At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Boko is paying a state visit to China from October 12 to 17, and this is Boko's first state visit to China since taking office in November 2024.

Ahead of the visit, Butale shared his insights about the bilateral relations and cooperation in an interview with China Media Group (CMG) in the Botswanan capital Gaborone on Friday.

Butale said that Botswana has long maintained a stable political and economic environment and is one of the African countries with a relatively favorable business environment. During his visit to China, Boko hopes to outline the government's development vision, according to Butale.

"China has played a very pivotal role in the development of this country. We have enjoyed excellent relations in various sectors, in construction, in people-to-people exchanges, in people skills transfer and in many other sectors. And that cooperation and collaboration with China is very, very important in sectors such as tourism, in sectors such as digitalization. We believe that this is an opportunity for us now, as we as a country now seek to transition from a mono-sectoral economy that is dependent largely on diamonds, we now want to build a diversified, resilient and agile economy," said Butale.

Butale also highlighted China's zero-tariff policy for 53 African countries that have diplomatic relations with China, saying it makes Africa-China trade smoother, and provides African countries, including Botswana, with opportunities for economic development.

"And we believe that there are instruments, agreements that China has extended to Africa, which is zero tariffs for African countries, and we welcome that. And we believe that this is an opportunity for us to co-create, co-invest with other African countries, other countries in the region, to make sure that we are together able to produce goods that we are able to send to the big Chinese market," said Butale.

Botswana hopes to deepen cooperation with China across different sectors: minister

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met with Evan Greenberg, executive vice chair of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations (NCUSCR), in Beijing on Monday.

He, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to the United States recently, and the two heads of state agreed to build a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability based on respect, fairness and reciprocity.

China and the United States should jointly implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, and inject more certainty and stability into China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation and the world economy, He said.

It is hoped that the NCUSCR will continue to play an active role in promoting China-U.S. economic cooperation, He added.

Stressing that stable development of U.S.-China relations is of great significance, the U.S. side expressed willingness to continue to play a bridging role in enhancing economic exchanges and cooperation between the two sides.

Chinese vice premier meets NCUSCR executive vice chair