On June 13, 2025, President Yang Wanming met with a delegation led by Phenyo Butale, Minister of International Relations, at the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC). The two sides held in-depth discussions on strengthening subnational cooperation between China and Botswana and enhancing people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and Africa.

President Yang extended a warm welcome to Minister Phenyo Butale on his visit to Beijing and commended his contributions to the sound and steady development of China-Botswana relations. He noted that, since China and Botswana established diplomatic ties five decades ago, bilateral relations have maintained a good momentum of development, with deepening political trust, fruitful win-win cooperation, and ever-growing people-to-people friendship. Not long ago, the Ministerial Meeting of Coordinators on the Implementation of the Follow-up Actions of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was held in Changsha. In his congratulatory letter, President Xi Jinping announced a series of major initiatives to further expand China-Africa cooperation, which has provided strategic guidance for advancing the ten partnership actions for China and Africa to jointly advance modernization and for promoting high-quality development of China-Africa cooperation. This is expected to yield more tangible outcomes in mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Botswana.

President Yang stressed that the foundation of China-Botswana relations lies with the people, and its dynamism comes from subnational engagement. Looking ahead, the CPAFFC stands ready to take the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges as a key opportunity to expand cooperation in culture, education, tourism, and other fields with Botswana, and to support Botswana's efforts to host cultural exchange activities in China. The CPAFFC is committed to, based on friendship city partnerships and the respective strengths of the two countries, promoting the establishment of more friendship city ties between China and Botswana to enhance subnational exchanges and cooperation; seeking to build more bridges for youth friendship, invite more Botswanan youth to visit China and thus carry forward China-Botswana friendship.

Minister Phenyo Butale spoke highly of the achievements made in bilateral cooperation across various sectors, and expressed appreciation for the CPAFFC's long-standing efforts to promote mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples. He noted that, the new government of Botswana attaches great importance to the relationship with China and remains firmly committed to the One-China Principle. Botswana hopes to take the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties as an opportunity to further deepen cooperation with China in such areas as infrastructure, tourism, economy and trade under the FOCAC framework, and to translate the turn the high-level political mutual trust into more substantial and practical cooperation outcomes. Cultural exchanges constitute a vital component of the Botswana-China relationship. The Botswana side hopes to strengthen cooperation with China, send more delegations to China, and build friendships with Chinese people from all walks of life, further deepening the bond between the two peoples.

Director-General Ji Yongjun and Deputy Director-General Huang Xiaowei of the Department of Asian and African Affairs of the CPAFFC, and Deputy Ambassador at the Embassy of Botswana in China Nomsa Daphne Mlotshwa were present at the meeting.