On May 18, 2026, the Launching Ceremony of the South Sudan Air Traffic Management (ATM) Facilities was held in Juba. H.E. Amb. Ma Qiang, together with H.E. President Salva Kiir Mayardit, Senior Presidential Advisor Gen. Kuol Manyang Juuk, Minister of Transport Rizik Zachariah Hassan, and representative of Secretary General of the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) Mr. Henry Oketch, attended the ceremony and delivered remarks.

H.E. Amb. Ma Qiang noted that the project is a fruitful outcome of the important consensus reached by the two Heads of State during the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). It is also the first and only air traffic management project under the framework of China-Africa cooperation to date. Upon its completion and operation, the project will help the South Sudanese government effectively reclaim the management of its upper airspace, restore full national airspace sovereignty, provide a solid guarantee for civil aviation safety, and inject new strong impetus into the economic diversification of South Sudan. China looks forward to taking this project as a new starting point for expanding practical cooperation with South Sudan in multiple fields and jointly writing a new chapter of win-win cooperation.

H.E. Amb. Ma Qiang, together with President Kiir, Senior Presidential Advisors, Minister Hassan and others, toured the ATM Center. Over 300 people attended the event, including Speaker of the TNLA, Presidential Security Advisor, other Senior Government Officials, Ministers, representatives of the Civil Aviation Authority, and the management and technical team of China Harbour.