KIGALI - Sporting links between Rwanda and China will boost cultural exchanges and open the minds of Rwanda's youth, a senior Rwandan official said here on Sunday at the country's national kung fu (Wushu) championship.

The long-term cooperation between Rwanda and China has seen an increasing number of kung fu practitioners from the central African country, said Didier Shema Maboko, permanent secretary of Rwanda's Ministry of Sports.

Maboko noted that the ministry believes that sporting links with other countries and regions encourages Rwanda's youth to participate in physical activity and to learn about cultures from others like Chinese kung fu.

The annual competition is held by the Confucius Institute at the University of Rwanda and the Rwanda Kung-fu Wushu Federation with support from the Chinese Embassy in Rwanda.

Xing Yuchun, political counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Rwanda, said that China had provided a lot of support to the Rwanda Wushu Federation, with more and more Rwandans interested in and practising kung fu.

Xing added that kung fu can greatly promote cultural exchanges and mutual understanding of the two peoples, noting that China would continue to provide necessary support for kung fu and other exchanges between the two sides.