The Group while in Ghana would, make a donation to the Naval Base Primary School in Tema, hold a joint sea military exercise with their Ghanaian counterparts as well as joint sports activities and many more.

The Group, which arrived at about 0900 hours at the Tema Habour in a Chinese Naval Ship, was met by a large number of Chinese and Ghanaian Dignitaries, who waved the national flags of both countries.

As part of the welcoming ceremony, the National anthems of the two countries were played, whilst a Guard of Honor was mounted and inspected by Lieutenant General Obed Boama Akwa, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Ghana Army.

There was also some display of Chinese culture as part of the ceremony.

Mr. Shi Ting Wang, the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, who was also at the port to meet the Group, said presently, China-Ghana relations had reached an impressive level of cooperation and understanding,

He said military exchanges had made considerable progress as an important part of bilateral relations.

Mr. Shi said with both China and Ghana being enthusiasts and defenders of world peace, the strengthening of co-operation and trust in the military field between the two countries, was of positive significance to safeguarding world peace.

"I hope that the two sides would grasp the opportunity of this visit, to promote the development of relations between the two Armed Forces and countries, and to also make greater contributions to safeguarding world peace," the Chinese Ambassador said.

Lt. Gen Akwa welcomed the group on behalf of the Minister of Defence, Mr Dominic Ntiwul, and said the complex nature of maritime security, made it necessary for nations to cooperate in that area.

"Recent unfortunate incidents of attacks in our waters, give credence to the need to train and build capacity to deal with these threats," he said.

The CDS noted that maritime crime had a rippling effect on the economy and the entire nation once it happened, and could affect several countries.

"A typical commercial ship has multiple nationalities and any incident on board affects the flag of the state, the owner's country, nationality of the crew members, the home port and even the charterer," Lt. Gen Akwa said.

This, the CDS said, made cooperation amongst nations, no longer an option, but a necessity.

He said the fact that Ghana was one of the few countries chosen by the Chinese fleet for the visit, showed how the Chinese cherished Ghana's friendship, adding, "certainly a new frontier in Sino-Ghanaian relations is being opened today with this inaugural visit of the Chinese Naval Ships".

The Group is commanded by Wu Dongzhu, and ends its visit on Friday, June 8th.