Freetown — The Chinese Embassy in Sierra Leone has awarded 23 scholarships to Sierra Leonean students to further their studies in various disciplines in China.

President Hu Jintao of the Peoples Republic of China last year held talks with President Ernest Bai Koroma during his official visit to China and both heads of state agreed to push their bilateral, friendly and cooperative ties to a new height by expanding in the areas of infrastructure construction, resource mobilization and capacity building processes.

The award of the scholarships to Sierra Leonean students was a demonstration of the Chinese government's commitment in the fight against poverty and illiteracy in the country and further serves to strengthen the good ties between the governments and peoples of both countries.

Charge d'Affairs of the Chinese Embassy in Freetown, Wang Lushan said China and Sierra Leone enjoy a long history of friendly bilateral relations even though there are vast geographical distances between the two countries, adding that he was always happy to render services to the people of Sierra Leone.

"It is my greatest pleasure to host this farewell reception for a new batch of Sierra Leonean students to study in China with the Chinese government scholarship. Over the years our exchanges and cooperation have yielded fruitful results in various fields such as agriculture, infrastructure, energy, trade, education and health.

"Today Sino-Sierra Leone friendship is deeply rooted in the hearts of our people. It has endured the test of time and changes in the world," Lushan said, adding that education was always ranked as one of the priorities which the Chinese government renders to the government and people of Sierra Leone.

"Since 1976, China has enrolled about 330 Sierra Leonean students with Chinese government scholarships. Since the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2006, China has built two schools in Freetown," he said.

Chairman of the Sino-Sierra Leone alumni association thanked the Chinese government for their enormous contributions to the development of the country. He said China is one of the leading countries that are offering scholarships to Sierra Leone. He urged the students to be ambassadors of the country while in China.

"You should not be afraid of anything, when you are in China you should feel at home because we almost share the same cultural values and customs," he admonished the students.