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Viewing cable 07KIGALI529, KAGAME VISIT TO CHINA

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07KIGALI529 2007-06-04 07:15 2011-08-24 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Kigali
VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLGB #0529 1550715
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 040715Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY KIGALI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4251
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0030
RUEHJB/AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA 0072
RUEHDR/AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM 0881
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 1614
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 0221
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 0883
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0242
UNCLAS KIGALI 000529 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EINV PREL RW
SUBJECT: KAGAME VISIT TO CHINA 
 
REF: 06 KIGALI 0894 
 
1.  (U)  Summary.  President Paul Kagame paid a five day 
visit to China May 14-19, visiting Beijing, Shanghai and 
Shenzhen.  The two governments signed several accords, 
including debt cancellation, infrastructure development, 
expanded trade links, and cultural exchanges.  Kagame also 
addressed the annual African Development Bank meeting, held 
for the first time in China.  Trade between the two nations, 
while small, is growing, and Rwanda, as many other African 
nations, is attracted by the Chinese development package of 
soft loans, technical aid, and minimal conditionality.  End 
summary. 
 
2.  (SBU)  Local press outlets carried extensive coverage of 
President Kagame's state visit to China, his talks with 
President Hu Jintao and other senior leaders in Beijing, and 
Kagame's address of the African Development Bank annual 
sessions in Shanghai.  Kagame also visited the city of 
Shenzhen, across from Hong Kong, where the Rwanda Investment 
and Export Promotion Agency maintains an office.  Contacted 
by pol/econ chief upon the GOR delegations' return to Kigali, 
presidential advisor David Himbara, who accompanied Kagame, 
said that the trip had accomplished key GOR goals of 
increased aid for infrastructure development, increased 
scholarships for Rwandan students, and the expansion of trade 
relations between the two nations.  The visit to Shenzhen, a 
booming center for foreign investment, had special resonance 
for the Rwandan delegation, said Himbara, as it had formerly 
been a small village located in a mountainous area of China. 
President Kagame hoped that Kigali, small, underdeveloped, 
and located in equally mountainous countryside, could one day 
boast of a similarly booming economy. 
 
3.  (SBU) Echoing these comments, Chinese Embassy First 
Secretary Xinming Wang told pol/econ chief June 1 that five 
 
SIPDIS 
agreements had been signed during Kagame's trip, including an 
accord canceling Rwandan debt owed to China "up through 
2005."  The debt cancellation totaled USD 160 million, he 
said.  Other accords focused on infrastructure development, 
particularly road building, and also trade development, 
sports, and cultural and educational exchanges.  Wang noted 
that this was Kagame's first state visit since his election 
in 2003, Kagame having paid unofficial visits several times 
earlier, including in 2006.  As a rule China hosted official 
state visits for no more than three African heads of state 
each year, he said ("although sometimes we go over"), so the 
Rwandans had been pleased to be selected.  Wang said that the 
Chinese government had tried to interest the Rwandans in a 
city other than Shenzhen, which Kagame had seen before, but 
"the Rwandans insisted on seeing it again."  Wang added that 
while visits by Chinese businessmen to Rwanda had so far not 
yielded much new investment, there were "more and more 
businessmen coming to have a look."  Wang also briefly noted 
the May 22 visit to Kigali by three Chinese generals, a visit 
he characterized as one focused on training opportunities for 
the Rwandan military. 
 
4.  (SBU)  Comment.  China presents an attractive partner for 
Rwanda, with grants, soft loans and technical aid, chiefly 
for essential infrastructure development, and no great 
emphasis on conditionality.  Trade between the two nations 
was USD 34 million, a modest sum but growing steadily. 
Unfortunately for Rwanda, there is no Hong Kong adjacent to 
Kigali, offering investment, expertise and ready access to 
world markets, as well as cultural and language affinities. 
Poor and underdeveloped in a poor, underdeveloped and 
unstable neighborhood, the GOR is focusing intensive policy 
efforts on an economic long-shot -- Rwanda as an entrepot 
between anglophone East Africa and francophone Central 
Africa.  The will is there, as is the goodwill of 
international partners, but it will be a long and difficult 
task.  End comment. 
ARIETTI