Fifty-five young Chinese and Sierra Leonean runners laced up together in Freetown on Sunday, jogging side by side along a stretch of road. That has itself become a quiet symbol of the relationship they were there to celebrate. One representative for every year since China and Sierra Leone first established diplomatic ties.
The China-Sierra Leone Friendship Run was organized by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Sierra Leone alongside China Railway Seventh Group (CRSG). The number of participants deliberately set to mark the occasion: 55 runners for the 55th anniversary of a relationship first established in 1971. The group ran together along the China-Sierra Leone Friendship Road. A route whose very name traces back to Chinese-built infrastructure that has, over time, folded itself into the everyday language of the capital.
Wang Bin, representing the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, described the anniversary as the product of 55 years of mutual respect, mutual trust and what he called win-win cooperation. Adding that Chinese enterprises operating in the country remain committed to supporting Sierra Leone’s economic and social development while serving as what he termed a bridge of friendship between the two peoples. Alfred Kamara, CRSG’s local manager, speaking on behalf of Sierra Leonean participants. He called the run a meaningful symbol of the strength of the bilateral relationship. He pointed specifically to cooperation across infrastructure, education, healthcare, agriculture, mining and trade as the ground on which people-to-people ties have deepened. Adding that working alongside Chinese colleagues day to day had built mutual understanding, teamwork and respect. Participants closed the event by reaffirming their commitment to carrying the friendship and cooperation forward for future generations.
The route chosen for Sunday’s run carries its own history. Originally built under a roughly $28 million Chinese government grant and completed in 2014. The 11.26-kilometer link between Regent village and Kossoh Town on Freetown’s outskirts. The road was constructed with four lanes, five bridges and more than 30 culverts, aimed squarely at easing chronic traffic congestion on the capital’s approaches. Locals eventually renamed it the China-Sierra Leone Friendship Road. CRSG, the same contractor still active in the country today, has said the road has both improved commuting conditions and spurred economic activity in the towns along its length. One longtime Freetown resident described the finished road as safer and less slippery on its inclines than what came before, a small but tangible change residents still credit to the project.
The road belongs to a wider set of Chinese-aided landmarks that have become embedded in Sierra Leonean daily life over five decades. The Youyi Building in Freetown, built with Chinese assistance in the 1970s, still houses government offices today. “Youyi,” the Chinese word for friendship, has become common enough in local usage that residents pronounce it easily, a linguistic footprint few infrastructure projects leave behind. The Sierra Leone-China Friendship Hospital in Jui, another fixture bearing the same name. The health infrastructure has hosted rotating Chinese medical teams for decades. The site, just last week, a newly launched hybrid nursing training program blending traditional Chinese medicine instruction from Hunan Province with hands-on demonstrations in Freetown.
CRSG’s presence in the anniversary celebration reflects a company whose footprint in Sierra Leone has expanded well beyond road construction. In January, the company partnered with Zhengzhou Railway Technician College and Freetown Polytechnic to launch the Excellence Academy. A joint vocational education program aimed at equipping young Sierra Leoneans with technical skills aligned to the country’s development priorities, alongside a new multimedia classroom built for Freetown Polytechnic students. That education push adds to a broader pattern of skills-focused Chinese investment recently seen elsewhere in the country, including the nursing training center that opened at the Friendship Hospital earlier this month.
The wider bilateral relationship has been gathering pace across multiple fronts this year. Ties were elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership in 2016. President Julius Maada Bio’s repeated visits to Beijing including; meetings with both President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang in early 2024, have produced a steady run of new agreements. Among them Chinese backing for an estimated $1.5 billion bridge project linking Freetown to Lungi International Airport. Trade has grown alongside the diplomatic warmth: two-way trade reached $1.82 billion in the ten months, following the extension of China’s zero-tariff export policy. And Chinese direct investment in the country has climbed to roughly $3 billion.
The 55 runners who took to the Friendship Road on Sunday shared a jog past a hospital, a road and a government building. Between them, they have quietly carried the word “friendship” into Sierra Leone’s everyday vocabulary for half a century.
