On July 12, 2017, President Xi Jinping accepted credentials presented by eight newly-appointed Ambassadors to China at the Great Hall of the People.

On the stairs outside the North Gate of the Great Hall of the People, the guard of honor lined up on both sides. Newly-appointed Ambassadors to China successively walked up the stairs and entered the Beijing Hall. In front of the aerial photograph of Beijing, the Ambassadors presented credentials to Xi Jinping in succession. Xi Jinping respectively shook hands and posed for group photos with them. These eight newly-appointed Ambassadors to China are Albanian Ambassador to China Selim Belortaja, Mexican Ambassador to China Jose Luis Bernal Rodriguez, Kyrgyz Ambassador to China Azamat Usenov, Botswanian Ambassador to China Mothusi Palai, Ghanaian Ambassador to China Edward Boateng, US Ambassador to China Terry Branstad, French Ambassador to China Jean-Maurice Ripert, and Costa Rican Ambassador to China Patricia Rodriguez Holkemeyer.

Xi Jinping welcomed all Ambassadors to assume their new posts in China, asked them to convey his sincere greetings and sound wishes to relevant state leaders and their people, and pointed out that the Chinese government will provide convenience and support for them to fulfill their duties. It is hoped that the Ambassadors will play their roles as bridges and bonds to continuously make contributions to enhancing the development of bilateral relations between China and their countries. Xi Jinping positively appraised the sound relations and traditional friendship between China and each country, and pointed out that China stands ready to work with each country to enhance political mutual trust, facilitate practical cooperation, and deepen people-to-people and cultural exchanges, so as to push forward bilateral relations between China and their countries for constant and new progress.

Conveying respective state leaders’ warm regards to Xi Jinping, the Ambassadors said that their countries attach great importance to developing relations with China, cherish friendship between the peoples, and hope to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation through the ways including the joint construction of the “Belt and Road”. The Ambassadors expressed that they feel deeply honored to serve as Ambassadors to China and will commit to enhancing mutual understanding and trust between the peoples and facilitating exchanges and cooperation between their countries and China in various fields.