by Liu Ying and Zhou Yu

    KIGALI, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Rwandan Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Minister Rosemary Museminali has said that the current relationship between China and Rwanda is excellent and this relationship can even grow more.

    In an exclusive interview with Xinhua in Kigali on Thursday, Museminali said the bilateral ties between China and Rwanda have been growing in various fields in the past three decades, which Rwanda cherishes very much.

    According to the minister, the relationship between the two sides can reach such a level is "because of the commitment on the side of China and also on the side of Rwanda."

    Museminali believed that the bilateral relationship is mutually beneficial and there is great potential for China and Rwanda to cooperate.

    Rwanda is looking forward to having more trade with China, hoping to attract more tourists and more investment from China, the minister emphasized.

    According to the statistics from the Chinese embassy in Rwanda, bilateral trade volume reached 95 million U.S. dollars in 2008, an increase of 61 percent from 2007.

    Chinese Ambassador to Rwanda Sun Shuzhong has said so far the trade volume for this year between the two countries has reached 70 million U.S. dollars with whole-year volume expected to exceed the level of 2008. At the same time, Chinese investment in Rwandais also increasing steadily.

    During the interview, Museminali also spoke highly of the relationship between China and Africa since the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2006.

    She had high expectations for the forum's ministerial meeting scheduled to be held in Egypt this November, saying "We have realized how much we can do together and we should set higher goals."

    Museminali gave her sincere congratulations to the Chinese people on the 60th anniversary of the founding of New China on October 1, saying China has developed both economically and socially during the past 60 years and wishing China more prosperity and more success.

    "We believe in today's world the more successful and the more prosperous China is naturally a more prosperous world," she added.

Special Report: 60th Anniversary of Founding of PRC