CGTN’s reporter Jenny Cortes Ybañez with Armene Rumenerangabo Gasagara A.. /CGTN Photo
Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to Rwanda from Sunday to Monday, as part of his agenda to deepen ties and strengthen cooperation between China and African countries. CGTN interviews one recent graduate from Rwanda to find out what his experience has been like in Beijing and what his views are on China-Rwanda relations.
Armene Rumenerangabo Gasagara A., who's from Kigali, capital of Rwanda, came to China six years ago to study and recently graduated from his Architecture master’s degree program. Armene said that his time here in China has been very valuable to him because he has learned a lot from his multicultural friends he has made, the international students at his previous university to the different types of internship opportunities he has had in his field in China.
At first, it wasn't easy and what he found most difficult at the start was that he had to learn the Chinese language, but now that he can speak it, he sees it as an asset that he now owns.
An active member of the “Rwanda Community Abroad”, an association in Beijing, Armene works to engage with Rwandans and help them integrate into Chinese society. He explained how similar the two countries are culturally.
"I went deep into the Chinese culture. I've come to understand how common it is actually to other culture, which I would say is African or Rwandan culture. The social way of living, the respect, the discipline of people between each other,” said Armene.
“The commitment you know, how people are just committed to working hard here and how people love their country, which looks more like our Rwandan spirit. All Rwandans, we all love our country so it's a similar thing with the Chinese counterpart," he added.
At the invitation of Rwandan president Paul Kagame, Chinese President Xi Jinping is paying a state visit to Rwanda from Sunday to Monday, making him the first Chinese head of state to visit the African country. So what does this mean to people like Armene and the people of Rwanda as a whole?
"It means a lot, and it's a symbol, it's a sign of our strong tie or the good relationship between our countries, which goes both ways as well,” Armene indicated.
“The good governance that we see here in China, similar to the very good governance that we see in Rwanda, which is led by his excellence Paul Kagame. We are happy to have him in Rwanda and we're looking forward to what's going to come after that because it's going to be so amazing," said Armene.
In regards to the future, Armene doesn't have any concrete career plans yet but one thing is certain. He definitely wants to see even more "win-win cooperation" in the years to come and more investment from both countries. Not only China bringing things into Rwanda but more Rwandan people and imports coming into China.
