On August 18, 2011, the Ghana-China Friendship Association (GHACHIFA) will be marking the 50th anniversary of a friendship treaty signed between Ghana and China. GHACHIFA was established in 1961 to foster person to person relations between people of the two countries. The anniversary will be commemorated under two themes: “Attaining excellence and development co-operation between Ghana and China in the next fifty years” and “The future of friendship with China and their development co-operation.” Ghana and China have been traditional friends and allies from the inception of their respective sovereignties. The president of the association commented during a press briefing that the celebration will mark a memorable day in the relationship between the two countries. “If we are to take a minute’s stock of how strong the ties between Ghanaians and the Chinese are, we will agree that there are several opportunities that we are yet to explore,” Ambassador Kojo Amoo-Gottfried, said. The ambassador mentioned that GHACHIFA is working at establishing a platform that will allow Ghanaians to visit China and bring interested Chinese to Ghana. “We have heard and observed the apprehensions of some Ghanaians about the presence of the Chinese here, but we can assure all that when we individually get to know the Chinese better, we will appreciate their presence here and will wholly welcome them into our houses,” he said. Although China is not endowed with a lot of land, it is one of the leading countries that feed its people well. Ghana will do well to learn from China. Amoo-Gottfried stressed that although Ghana is endowed with vast land, Ghanaians are not taking advantage of this gift. “As a developing country, the most important thing is to feed our people,” he added. GHACHIFA has lined up a series of activities to mark its anniversary in Ghana. There will be exhibitions, picnics and an awards dinner to reward personalities who have contributed to the cause of the association.