In the afternoon of August 9, 2012, Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama met in Accra with Chinese President Hu Jintao's special envoy and Chinese Minister of Civil Affairs Li Liguo who was in Ghana to attend the funeral of late President John Atta Mills.

Li Liguo, on behalf of President Hu, the Chinese government and people, expressed deep grief over the death of President Mills and extended sincere condolences to President Mahama and the government and people of Ghana. He said that the Chinese side admires the development Ghana has achieved under the leadership of President Mills and appreciates President Mills' contributions to the development of the friendly cooperation between China and Ghana. China expects to make joint efforts with Ghana to promote the continuous development of traditional friendship and pragmatic cooperation.

Mahama thanked President Hu for appointing Li as a special envoy to the funeral of President Mills. He spoke highly of the new cooperation initiatives including the US$20 billion of credit to African countries announced by President Hu during the fifth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. He said that the Ghanaian government sincerely appreciates China's help for the economic and social development in Ghana and will work with China to further raise the bilateral friendly cooperation to higher levels.

Li Liguo arrived in Accra on August 9 and will attend the funeral of President Mills next day.

President Mills died of disease on July 24. In the evening of the same day, Vice President Mahama sworn in as the fourth President of the Republic of Ghana at the parliament.