Celebration for the 45th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Chin and Cape Verde Held in Tongzhou

On the afternoon of April 27, to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Cape Verde, a unique tree-planting activity was held in Zhangjiawan Central Park in Tongzhou District.

[Chinese and Foreign guests at Zhangjiawan Central Park]

[Planting trees of friendship together]

Lin Yi, Vice President of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), Yang Bo, Executive Vice Governor of Tongzhou District, and Su Bensheng, Level One Inspector of the Beijing People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (the BPAFFC), together with the Ambassadors of Cape Verde, Cameroon, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe, and Guinea-Bissau to China, planted 5 Chinese pines symbolizing the everlasting friendship between China and Cape Verde.

Mm. Lin Yi recounted that Cape Verde established diplomatic relations with China less than a year after Cape Verde’s independence. Since then, the peoples of the two countries have embarked on a journey of joint cooperation and common development. In the past 45 years, the two countries have enhanced mutual political trust, achieved fruitful results in cooperation and deepened people-to-people friendship. Regardless of changes around the world, the two countries have always supported each other and set an example of mutual respect and equality between large and small countries. This year coincides with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and China’s first year in the new journey toward fully building a modern socialist country. It is also a key year for Cape Verde’s implementation of “Ambition 2030” goals. She wished a brighter future for the friendship between Cape Verde and China at the new historical starting point.

H.E. Tania Romualdo, Ambassador of Cape Verde to China stated that it was in the spring of 1976 that Cape Verde and China established diplomatic relations. It is, therefore, of symbolic significance to plant trees of friendship 45 years later in this season of renewal, growth and revival. Tongzhou has great potentials for future development. She expressed her hope that the roots of the trees planted in Tongzhou this day will be as strong as the relationship has been between the two countries, and that the trees will bear fruits that represent the sincere and lasting friendship. To emphasize her faith in the friendship, she quoted from the poem by Bai Juyi, “Fire tries to burn them up in vain; they rise again when spring winds blow.” Romualdo congratulated the Communist Party of China on its achievements in the past 100 years. She asserted that the world is closely intertwined and that only by uniting and cooperating to build “a global community with a shared future” can we overcome the epidemic and other global threats.

[Learning about the Grand Canal Culture]

After the tree-planting, Chinese and foreign guests visited the Tongzhou Grand Canal Forest Park and Beijing Urban Sub-Center Planning Exhibition Hall to learn about Beijing’s canal culture, green development concept and urban sub-center planning.

[Learning about the planning of the sub-center]

The event was hosted by the CPAFFC and the Embassy of the Republic of Cape Verde in China, and supported by the BPAFFC and Tongzhou District People’s Government. Around 40 Chinese and foreign guests attended the event.