国内英语新闻:Ghanaian president meets Chinese FM, hails China inspiration to Africa

ACCRA, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama on Thursday met with visiting China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, hailing China inspiration to Africa and elsewhere in the world.

"China's example of having been able to create the largest movement of people out of poverty is an example to us that we can also replicate it in our country," Mahama said talks with China's top diplomat at the Flagstaff House in Accra, the capital of the West African country.

He said China continues to serve as an inspiration to Africa, the rest of the developing world and, particularly, to Ghana.

President Mahama and Wang discussed issues of mutual interest as part of his two-day official visit to Ghana.

Mahama said China describes itself as a developing country and in international fora had always championed the cause of the developing countries and oppressed people of the world.

"With the economic progress that China has made it continues to extend a hand to the rest of the developing world especially to Africa. At the last forum on China-Africa cooperation, China pledged 20 billion dollars for development in Africa and we want to express appreciation for that," he said.

Wang said the cooperation between China and Ghana is the result of joint efforts of both sides from the leadership down to the people, adding that the new Chinese government attaches a great deal of importance to advancing the friendly relation with Ghana.

He urged the two nations to recognize the two important advantages in their relationship -- the traditional friendship on one hand and practical cooperation on the other.

He said if the two sides could better combine and use these two important advantages, "if we can do so then we can make sure that the friendly relations and cooperation between China and Ghana will be long-lasting and more sustainable and deliver more practical benefits to the people in both countries especially the people of Ghana."

Present at the meeting were Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, Ghana's Vice president, Prosper Douglas Bani, Chief of Staff, Raymond Atuguba, Executive Secretary to the president, Hannah Tetteh, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and regional cooperation as well as other ministers of state and government officials.

Earlier in the day, Wang and his entourage toured the mausoleum of Ghana's first president Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah in Accra, where they paid their respect to Ghana's founding president and pan-Africanist.

At the museum were loads of old pictures depicting the visit president Nkrumah made to China back in 1961 and his interactions during that visit with China's then chairman Mao Zedong, prime minister Zhou Enlai and other leaders.

He said the visit reacquainted them with the historical contribution that Nkrumah had made to the independence of Ghana.

Wang is expected to leave for Senegal Thursday night on the final leg of his four-nation African trip, which also took him to Ethiopia and Djibouti.

It has been a tradition since 1991 for Chinese foreign ministers to first visit Africa every new year.