Chrispin Inambao
1 October 2008
Windhoek — Dozens of diplomats, Government ministers and Chinese business people joined Chinese Ambassador to Namibia Ren Xiaoping at her residence to celebrate the 59th anniversary of the founding of China on Monday.
In her remarks before a mouth-watering Oriental luncheon was served, she said the year 2008 "is indeed a very unusual year in the history of China. As we say in Chinese, it's a year of both great joy and deep sadness."
She said the milestone event that came by way of the seven-person Shengzhou spaceship that was launched into outer space five days ago and that came back safely is a "great success". This marks a major step forward in the progress of China's space programme.
"For the Chinese people, another wonderful thing that has happened this year is the huge success of the Beijing Olympic Games, which has fulfilled the long dreams of the Chinese people to make their own contributions to the Olympic movement and to peace and friendship of humanity. Our efforts have paid off," she noted.
The Beijing Olympic Games and Paralympics created history in many ways such as the Chinese people embracing the world with their friendliness and warm hospitality, she stated, adding that China left its impressions on its outstanding organization and service.
During the games, China was accorded an opportunity to show 'that it is open, progressing and confident, and that it is advancing peacefully through its arduous efforts.
"The success of the Beijing Olympic Games is not just the success of the Chinese people. It is also the success of the entire world, of all the people including the Namibian people, who genuinely believe in the Olympic spirit, in peace and friendship, and have given precious support to China's efforts in achieving its goals," Ren said.
The countdown leading to the Beijing Olympics was not smooth-sailing as China was hit by the most devastating earthquake in its history that claimed 90 000 lives.
"Millions of people lost their homes. China suffered tremendous human and economic loss. On 30th August another strong earthquake struck Sichuan and Yunan provinces, hundreds of thousands of people were afflicted," Ren told the gathering.
In the face of these calamities, the whole nation was mobilized resulting in the Chinese government acting swiftly and efficiently as a result of its citizens' heroic deeds.
Speaking at the same occasion, Joel Kaapanda, the Minister of Information and Communication Technology noted that the two countries enjoy excellent bilateral relations "characterised by close friendship and solidarity".
He described 2008 as having been both "annus horribilis and annus glorius" for China.
"Namibia will always cherish the solidarity, political and material support given to us during our struggle for national independence," stressed the Minister.
"Since the establishment of our diplomatic relations, bilateral relations have been strengthened and further consolidated. The cooperation between our two countries in various fields has been steadily expanding and bringing tangible results to our two peoples," he said of the solid relations that pre-date Namibia's independence.
Cooperation between the two countries in the fields of politics, economics, trade, culture, education, telecommunications, science and technology and health continues to grow.
Namibia firmly supports the One-China Policy and the past year witnessed rapid growth in bilateral economic and trade cooperation.
Trade balance between the two countries also continues to grow, for instance in the first seven months of this year the bilateral trade volume reached US$219 million (N$1.7 billion), an increase of 11.4 percent when compared to last year's trade data.
Namibia's exports to China reached a record N$1 billion, an increase of 476 percent over last year, according to figures disclosed by the diplomat while the country's imports from China decreased by 46 percent to N$770 million.
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