On 17 August 2016, H.E. Dr. Sun Xianghua, Ambassador of China to Lesotho, hosted a farewell reception for 16 Basotho students sponsored by the Chinese Government Scholarship 2016. Among others, Hon. Mahali Phamotse, Minister of Education and Training, Mr. Tsokolo Maina, Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Ms. Mapaseka Kolotsane, Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Training, and other senior officials of the government, the scholarship winners of the year 2016 and representatives of former Basotho students studying in China attended the reception.

Dr. Sun in his remarks highly commended the Lesotho Governments' efforts on education development and the cooperation in the field of education between the two countries. He congratulated the scholarship winners and encouraged them to bravely face any challenge in the future, study hard to break the bottleneck holding back the Lesotho's development, make friends in China, and become the envoys of China-Lesotho friendship.

Hon. Phamotse sincerely thanked the Chinese government for opening doors for the students, which was a testimony to its continued and unwavering support to the Lesotho side. She called on the students to work extremely hard and at the same time, to enjoy and experience china, in order to return with what they were setting out to bring back home.

Mr. Tlotliso Sello, representative of the scholarship winners, expressed his gratitude to the scholarship and swore to cherish this opportunity to work hard and try to become part of the pride of China-Lesotho cooperation and come back to build the motherland.

Mr. Limapa Likhama, representative of the former students studying in China, said the scholarship gave him the chance to succeed. He shared his stories about the experiences in China and said he had a family back in China. He called on the new scholarship winners to hug the new environment bravely, remind them to obey laws and rules and make more Chinese friends.