Located in the central-estern part of the African continent, the Republic of Rwanda covers an area of 26,338 square km and has a population of about 8.5million belonging to three ethnic groups, that is, Hutu, Tutsi and Twa, who share a common language and culture. Following the ethnic-based genocide in 1994, the government has actively built on shared values to promote a national Rwandan identity. Most Rwandans are Christians (Roman Catholic or various Protestant denominations), and a significant number are Muslim. Kinyarwanda, English and French are the official languages. Kigali is the national capital. The current President is Paul Kagame.

Since Rwanda established diplomatic ties with China on November 12, 1971, bilateral relations have been developing smoothly and great progress has been made in bilateral cooperation in the fields such as culture, education and public health. In 2001, President Kagame visited China. Xu Jialu, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of National People's Congress and, Wu Guanzheng, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, visited Rwanda in 2001 and 2006 respectively. Bilateral trade topped 23.54 million U.S. dollars in 2005.