Uganda, China reaffirm friendship at 77th China National Day dinner
Speaker Oboth described the occasion not simply as China's National Day celebration but as a gathering of friends.
Speaker of Parliament, Jacobs Markson Oboth with Chinese Ambassador to Uganda Wu Guangrong during the 77th China National Day event. (Photos by Richard Sanya)
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Diplomacy interacted with culture and merrymaking at Sheraton Kampala Hotel on Wednesday, September 24, as Uganda and China celebrated the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China with speeches, music, performances, cake-cutting and a toast to continued friendship.
The dinner reception brought together a high-profile list of dignitaries including the Speaker of Parliament, Jacobs Markson Oboth, Chinese Ambassador to Uganda Wu Guangrong and an array of guests.
Speaker Oboth and Ambassador Wu jointly cut the anniversary cake, a gesture which served as a visual expression of the partnership expanding over six decades.
Ambassador Wu and Oboth invited guests to raise their glasses to China's prosperity, Uganda's development, the joint modernisation of the two countries and what WU called the “unbreakable brotherhood between the Chinese and African peoples.”
At the centre of the celebration was a relationship that has now spanned more than six decades.
Uganda and China formally established diplomatic relations on October 18, 1962.
The relationship has since developed into a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership declared during the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing, with cooperation extending across infrastructure, energy, agriculture, health, education, trade, culture and technology.
Borrowing from Chinua Achebe, the Speaker recalled the idea that a host does not necessarily invite kinsmen to a feast because the host has more food, but because “they are his people.”
That spirit, he said, reflected the warmth underpinning Uganda-China relations. The Speaker used the occasion to trace the breadth of the partnership, pointing to projects that have become visible landmarks in Uganda.
Among them, he cited the Kampala-Entebbe Expressway, Karuma and Isimba hydropower projects, infrastructure at Entebbe International Airport and Mandela Stadium.
He also highlighted cooperation in agriculture at Kibimba and Doho farms and the China-Uganda Friendship Hospital in Naguru.
Oboth celebrated that the Chinese medical teams have served Uganda since 1983, and the occasion marked Uganda's recognition of the 25th Chinese medical team while welcoming the 26th.
The Speaker said their work offered a powerful illustration of what diplomatic friendship means when translated into everyday life.
“Diplomacy is not confined to conference rooms. This time it was found in a hospital ward where countless lives were saved,” he said.
He added; “Ultimately, the strength of relationships between nations is measured not by the agreements we sign, but by the lives that those relationships improve.”
Oboth also challenged today's leaders to become active custodians of the bilateral relationship.
“The future of our relationship is not simply inherited, it is built,” he said, calling for stronger Parliamentary exchanges, friendship groups and institutional links between Uganda and China.
Ambassador Wu, used the occasion to present his own vision of a relationship entering another chapter.
He described 2026 as an “extraordinary and historically significant year,” noting the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, China's 15th Five-Year Plan and the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Looking back at China's journey since 1949, Wu described it as “77 years of journeying through wind and rain; seventy-seven years of fruitful yields.”
His address ranged from China's infrastructure and space programme to renewable energy, electric vehicles, artificial intelligence and other technologies.
On the day's theme of cooperation with developing countries and Africa, Wu said China's development should not be considered a “solo act,” but “a harmonious symphony composed jointly with our African brothers and sisters.”
He stressed that Uganda had already become part of that symphony before he pointed to joint undertakings such as Karuma, which is an important contribution to Uganda's electricity supply and industrial development and Entebbe Expressway as an example of infrastructure supporting trade and commerce.
WU also highlighted Chinese hybrid rice technology being used in Katakwi and elsewhere, linking agricultural cooperation to food security.
On trade, WU said China's zero-tariff policy for 53 African countries with which it maintains diplomatic relations, effective from May 1, 2026, opened additional opportunities for African exports, including Ugandan coffee, to enter the Chinese market.
On Uganda’s budding oil and gas sector, Ambassador Wu described Kingfisher as potentially more than another cooperation project.
The celebration was spiced up by an inter-cultural programme featuring music and other performances, transforming the diplomatic reception into a lively showcase of friendship between two cultures.