THE Chinese Minister of Commerce, Mr Chen Deming, has called on the law enforcement agencies to punish any Chinese national found culpable of violating the labour laws of the country.
He stated that inasmuch as Ghana and China were committed to deepening bilateral relations, it was incumbent upon nationals of the two countries to respect the laws of the two countries.
The minister was answering questions at a news conference in Accra on the involvement of some Chinese nationals in illegal mining and other illegal forms of businesses in the country.
He said given the millions of Chinese citizens scattered across the world, it was impossible to monitor the crimes they were alleged to have committed and urged the government to apply the appropriate penalties on Chinese nationals found to be involved in criminal activities.
Mr Deming led a delegation to the country to finalise loan agreements that were the result of discussions President J.E.A. Mills had with his Chinese counterpart during his visit to China last year.
The visit of the delegation was also intended to promote commerce between the two countries.
Addressing a wide range of issues, the minister said currently China was Africa’s biggest trading partner, which relationship he traced to the last 55 years and noted that given Africa’s 13 million square-kilometre size, the contribution of the continent to the Chinese economy could not be underestimated.
Describing his visit to the continent, which also took him to Morocco and Equatorial Guinea as fruitful, he particularly lauded Ghana for ensuring the judicious use of Chinese funds given for projects, among which he said were the Bui Hydroelectric Project in the Brong Ahafo Region and the execution of the railway project intended for this year.
Expressing further Chinese commitment to supporting Ghana’s development agenda, the minister said the two countries had reached an agreement for a concessionary loan for the expansion of universities in Ghana and construction of stadia and markets in the Central Region.
He said while China was recently pronounced the world’s second largest economy, the country still trailed in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) terms and in that respect described Ghana and China as developing countries which shared a common history dating back to the pre-independence era.
Asked if China was not exploiting African nations which abounded in natural resources under the guise of offering them aid, Mr Deming responded in the negative and explained that his country offered more aid to needy countries in Africa than the wealthier ones on the continent.
On Chinese participation in Ghana's oil and gas industry, the minister said the focus of his country was rather to support Ghana to develop its infrastructure and that China played a limited role in oil and gas exploitation.
To further deepen trade relations between the two countries Mr Deming said the Chinese Government was providing duty-free imported goods from Africa into China, following the setting up of a permanent exhibition centre for African commodities in that country and called on traders to take advantage of the opportunity.
He stated that inasmuch as Ghana and China were committed to deepening bilateral relations, it was incumbent upon nationals of the two countries to respect the laws of the two countries.
The minister was answering questions at a news conference in Accra on the involvement of some Chinese nationals in illegal mining and other illegal forms of businesses in the country.
He said given the millions of Chinese citizens scattered across the world, it was impossible to monitor the crimes they were alleged to have committed and urged the government to apply the appropriate penalties on Chinese nationals found to be involved in criminal activities.
Mr Deming led a delegation to the country to finalise loan agreements that were the result of discussions President J.E.A. Mills had with his Chinese counterpart during his visit to China last year.
The visit of the delegation was also intended to promote commerce between the two countries.
Addressing a wide range of issues, the minister said currently China was Africa’s biggest trading partner, which relationship he traced to the last 55 years and noted that given Africa’s 13 million square-kilometre size, the contribution of the continent to the Chinese economy could not be underestimated.
Describing his visit to the continent, which also took him to Morocco and Equatorial Guinea as fruitful, he particularly lauded Ghana for ensuring the judicious use of Chinese funds given for projects, among which he said were the Bui Hydroelectric Project in the Brong Ahafo Region and the execution of the railway project intended for this year.
Expressing further Chinese commitment to supporting Ghana’s development agenda, the minister said the two countries had reached an agreement for a concessionary loan for the expansion of universities in Ghana and construction of stadia and markets in the Central Region.
He said while China was recently pronounced the world’s second largest economy, the country still trailed in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) terms and in that respect described Ghana and China as developing countries which shared a common history dating back to the pre-independence era.
Asked if China was not exploiting African nations which abounded in natural resources under the guise of offering them aid, Mr Deming responded in the negative and explained that his country offered more aid to needy countries in Africa than the wealthier ones on the continent.
On Chinese participation in Ghana's oil and gas industry, the minister said the focus of his country was rather to support Ghana to develop its infrastructure and that China played a limited role in oil and gas exploitation.
To further deepen trade relations between the two countries Mr Deming said the Chinese Government was providing duty-free imported goods from Africa into China, following the setting up of a permanent exhibition centre for African commodities in that country and called on traders to take advantage of the opportunity.
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