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The Chinese Ambassador in The Gambia has happily noted that Gambians now have more knowledge about China since the resumption of diplomatic relations between The Gambia and the People’s Republic of China three and a half years ago. |
Ambassador Ma Jianchun was speaking on Tuesday during the embassy’s open day to welcome the public to interact with Chinese diplomats and to experience a themed picture exhibition displaying China’s symbolic scenery, traditional culture, modern history and contemporary society among others.
“Since 2016, a great number of Gambians from diverse backgrounds have visited China and brought back their own China stories. When in China, they also shared quite a few Gambian stories with the Chinese people. Now Chinese doctors, scholars, agricultural experts, construction teams and others have all come to The Gambia and are making new friends in local communities every single day in their work and life,” Ambassador Ma Jianchun said.
He said it is the first time the embassy is hosting the Open Day activity in The Gambia and hope it will be a new gateway connecting Chinese and Gambians. The guests were taken to conducted tour of the facility followed by a photo exhibition featuring Chinese culture, natural views, and daily life which tell various stories of this ancient and modern nation in the east.
Ambassador Jianchun further explained that the people-to-people interactions will bring China and The Gambia closer to each other. He acknowledged that three and a half years are far from enough to develop mutual knowledge and understanding between the two countries.
The Chinese diplomat explained that the idea of hosting an Open Day Activity was based on this thinking. It was to show a more comprehensive image of China to the Gambian public, and to share more China stories of various dimensions to the Gambian people.
“The Open Day almost coincides with our celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Part of the exhibition today focuses on China’s history of these 70 years. It shows how China developed from the so-called ‘sick man of East Asia’ to the world’s second largest economy and a moderately prosperous society today,” Ambassador Jianchun asserted.
He admitted there were domestic and foreign challenges on many fronts during the 70 years of China’s uphill development journey and people can draw much inspiration. Over the period, China’s development has always enjoyed support from African partners and China’s contribution to the development of African countries also has been profound and widely appreciated.
The exhibition shows many stories demonstrating China-Africa and China-Gambia friendship which became stronger with a shared future. The people were taken to conducted tour of the facility and also a photo exhibition which also features Chinese culture, natural views, and Chinese people’s daily life, which tell various stories of this ancient and modem nation in the east.
The head boy of Nusrat Senior Secondary School AlieuJobe described the open day activity as vital as it gives them the opportunity to learn more about Chinese culture and activities.
“We were privileged to be taken on a conducted tour of the embassy reception, meeting room, ambassador’s residence, exhibition hall and other facilities. We were exposed to different art works and we will share what we learnt with our follow students,” AlieuJobe stated.
Reo Maroun, a student from American International School, expressed gratitude to the Chinese Embassy for coming up with this initiative of an open day which has provided an opportunity for many people to learn about Chinese culture.
“I am very happy to interact with officials of the embassy and get basic information about China’s cultural heritage and other activities. This has increased my understanding of China and the cordial relationship between the two countries,” Reo Maroun said.
