CHINESE ENGAGEMENT IN RWANDA

UNCLAS KIGALI 000304 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV EAGR SENV RW SUBJECT: CHINESE ENGAGEMENT IN RWANDA REF: A. STATE 41697 ¶B. 07 KIGALI 529 ¶C. 07 KIGALI 218 ¶1. (SBU) The Chinese and Rwandan governments continue their cooperative relations on a number of fronts, with Chinese parastatals and private companies active in Rwanda, a number of development projects underway, and discussions continuing on various soft loans. As noted in refs B and C, China agreed to construct a new Foreign Affairs building, and this project is now nearing completion. A pilot rice production project has just finished, and will be followed up with a rice plantation project south of Butare. Approximately 60 percent of Rwanda's national roads have been constructed by Chinese companies, and Chinese companies continue to bid aggressively for road projects funded under World Bank and African Development Bank auspices. ¶2. (SBU) Zonghua Yi, Econ/Commercial Counselor at the Chinese embassy in Kigali, told pol/econ chief April 25 that China recently agreed to fund a hospital and two primary schools in Rwanda. It will also begin work in the near future on a silkworm and mulberry tree plantation -- a feasibility study is now underway -- and a bamboo plantation and processing center. Discussions continue on a new football stadium, and on various other soft loan projects. Two Chinese telecommunications companies are working closely with Rwandatel, the formerly state-owned telephone and internet company. The CCECC (China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation),a Chinese parastatal, is also active in Rwanda, bidding on various construction projects (it will build the two schools mentioned above). ¶3. (SBU) Two-way trade between China and Rwanda, according to Yi, rose from thirty-four million dollars in 2006 to approximately sixty million dollars in 2007 (although he cautioned that accurate figures were difficult to obtain). Rwanda's exports consisted mainly of tea, coffee and animal skins, while China's exports to Rwanda covered a variety of household goods, telecommunications equipment, construction equipment and services, and other items. ¶4. (SBU) By all accounts, China does not offer donor assistance to Rwanda in the areas of peacekeeping or security assistance. We are not aware of any areas where USG programs intersect with Chinese assistance, although given the wide-ranging activities of our HIV/AIDS programs, some interactions may result following completion of the hospital the Chinese have pledged to build. Chinese government representatives are largely missing from the many donor coordination mechanisms that Rwanda employs as it seeks to rationalize and harmonize its development assistance. One area in which Economic/Commercial Counselor Yi said China would be ready to cooperate would be in the proposed construction of a rail link from Isaka in western Tanzania to Kigali -- on a strictly commercial basis, said Yi. ARIETTI