On November 20, 2005, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council Huang Ju who was on a formal visit to Botswana met with speaker of the National Assembly of Botswana Patrick Balopi and the executive secretary of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tomaz Augusto Salomao respectively in Gaborone.

When meeting with Balopi, Huang said that over the past 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Botswana both sides have extended mutual respect and support with great sincerity and built profound friendship. The bilateral relations progress steadily and exchanges and cooperation in such fields as economy and trade, culture and education and health have achieved fruitful results. During his visit Huang reached extensive consensus with President Mogae on deepening China-Botswana relations. China will work with Botswana to faithfully implement the consensus, strengthen bilateral high-level exchanges, complement each other with their own advantages and deepen the mutually beneficial cooperation in the areas of trade and economy so as to push forward the bilateral relations constantly.

The National People's Congress (NPC) of China and the National Assembly of Botswana maintain sound exchanges and cooperation, which has helped promote the friendship between the two peoples and the development of bilateral ties, noted Huang. China is willing to make continuous efforts with Botswana to expand the exchanges and cooperation between the NPC of China and the National Assembly of Botswana and in other areas as well in a bid to passing on the China-Botswana friendship from generation to generation.

Huang said that China attaches great importance to reinforcing solidarity and cooperation with African countries and is ready to join hands with African countries within the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation to implement the important measures of supporting developing nations in accelerating their development which were announced by Chinese President Hu Jintao when attending the United Nations Summit with the purpose of pushing for the all-round and in-depth development of China-Africa cooperative relations.

Balopi noted that Botswana has always had friendly feeling towards China and had received China's support as early as when it suffered from the apartheid policy. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries both sides have conducted sound cooperation in various fields, which plays an important role of promoting Botswana's economic and social progress. Botswana is ready to make joint efforts with China to further strengthen the friendly cooperation in various fields of economy and trade and continue advancing the Botswana-China and Africa-China friendly and cooperative relations. He added that the National Assembly of Botswana expects to carry out various forms of friendly exchanges and cooperation with the NPC of China.

During meeting with Salomao, Huang said that since establishment the SADC has been playing an increasingly important role in maintaining regional peace and stability and promoting regional cooperation and development. China has established sound cooperative relations with the SADC and most of its members. In recent years, the bilateral exchanges get strengthened steadily; the bilateral contacts and consultations within the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation continue increasing and both sides have conducted fruitful cooperation in all fields. China cherishes the traditional friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation with the SADC very much and expects to continue enhancing political consultations and coordination with the SADC within the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, actively promote cooperation in such fields as trade and economy and infrastructure construction and raise bilateral cooperation to higher levels. China will always be a friend of the SADC and African countries at large.

Salomao pointed out that the national independence and development in a peaceful and stable environment enjoyed by the SADC members are largely attributed to China's sincere support and help and therefore the organization always treats China as a real friend and attaches great important to its cooperative relations with China. They are willing to strengthen and expand cooperation with China and actively cope with various challenges in the process of advancing regional economic development. They welcome more Chinese companies to invest in regions covered by the SADC and participate in local infrastructure construction. He expressed confidence that the cooperation between the SADC and China will enjoy a promising future.