One of the four agreements the Chinese signed yesterday with the Guyana Government entails debt relief worth about US$20M.

Madame Wu arrived to a red carpet welcome yesterday morning at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri where she was greeted by senior officials of the Guyana Government including Foreign Minister, Mr. Rudy Insanally; Foreign Trade and International Cooperation Minister, Mr. Clement Rohee; Finance Minister, Mr. Sasenarine Kowlessar; Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Elisabeth Harper and Chief of Protocol, Mr. M.R. Khan.

Also at the airport to welcome Madame Wu and her 39-member delegation were the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China, Mr. Song Tao, and a large Chinese delegation from Guyana.

The delegation headed by Madame Wu includes the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of China; the President of the Export Import Bank of China, and the Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Assistant Minister of Finance of China. Others are officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation and a number of Chinese entrepreneurs.

Madame Wu is a native of the Wuhan Hubei Province of China and a graduate from the Beijing Petroleum College.

In her meeting with President Jagdeo, both sides reviewed the long history of friendship between the two countries and China's economic and technical aid to Guyana since 1963, a statement from the Chinese Embassy said.

Both governments are satisfied with the continuous development of bilateral relations and economic and technical cooperation, the embassy said.

"The Chinese Government attaches importance to the friendly relations with Guyana and will continue to promote the development of our friendly relations and cooperation," it assured.

On the basis of consultations, the Government of China and the Guyana Government signed the following agreements in the Credentials Room of the Office of the President, Georgetown:

** Exchange of Notes for Phase II of the construction of the Guyana International Convention Centre Project (total investment of US$5M)

** Agreement for a 20M RMB (renminbi - Chinese Yuan) grant for economic and technical cooperation

** Protocol on debt relief granted to Guyana for the following three loans: August 26, 1963 - 464,285 pounds sterling; September 18, 1963 - five million Swiss francs (SFR 5 million); and April 10, 1972 - 10 million pounds sterling

** and an exchange of notes for the deputation of one table tennis coach, one martial arts coach and one interpreter to work in Guyana for a period of one year.

"The Chinese Government is willing to explore new areas of cooperation and is confident that upon the joint efforts, the projects mentioned above will surely strengthen bilateral economic and trade cooperation, enhance our mutual understanding, and further consolidate and develop the friendship between Chinese and Guyanese peoples," the statement said.

For the Guyana Government, the first two agreements were signed by Minister Rohee; the third by Minister Kowlessar; and the fourth by Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Dale Bisnauth, while the Vice Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of China, Ma Xiuhong signed on behalf of the Chinese Government.

The signing of the four agreements took place in the presence of Madame Wu and President Jagdeo and other officials from the governments of Guyana and China.

Madame Wu has served as Deputy Manager and Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Committee of Beijing Yanshan Petrochemical Corporation.

Later on she served as Vice Mayor of Beijing, Vice Minister and Deputy Secretary of the CPC's Leading Group of the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade, and Minister and Secretary of the CPC Leading Group of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation. She has served as China's State Councillor since 1998.

Guyana and China established formal diplomatic relations on June 27, 1971. Relations have been maintained at a high level through accentuated contact in the political, diplomatic, economic and cultural arena through initiatives at different levels. Guyana and China have established a Joint Commission to overlook co-operation in economic, trade and technical cooperation.

Over the years, several co-operation agreements have been concluded. These include a Cultural Agreement, an Agreement on Inter-Ministerial Consultations between the ministries of Foreign Affairs of Guyana and China, an Agreement on the mutual exemption of visas and the CARICOM/China Agreement on Consultations.

In July 1991, a five-member delegation from China led by the Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Zhou Wenzhong paid a working visit to Guyana. During the visit, letters of exchange in respect of a five million Yuan Grant to the Government of Guyana were signed.

The grant constitutes an agreement on the two sides that the money should be used for the provision of general goods or implementation of projects to be decided upon between the two sides.

Madame Wu and her delegation are expected to pay a visit to the scenic Timberhead Resort this morning before departing Guyana later today.