Manthabiseng National Convention Centre, opened in 1997 is the first State building to be funded, constructed and donated to Lesotho by the People’s Republic of China.
Located along the main south road 1 in Maseru, this Convention Centre serves as a concrete symbol for the genesis of contemporary Lesotho-China relations.
At a bilateral diplomatic event in 2017, the then Chinese Ambassador to Lesotho, Dr Sun Xianghua, highlighted this when he said, ‘Architectures can’t talk, yet by seeing these two buildings[1], it is as if we are hearing many touching stories of friendship between China and Lesotho”.
When operational, the Convention centre, operated by the Ministry of Tourism, hosts key political events such as serving as the national vote tallying centre during elections.
However, the Convention centre is beset by structural challenges. To construct the building, the Chinese government hired contractors from China who brought most of the material and fittings from there and Lesotho has struggled to maintain the building.
[1] Manthabiseng Convention Centre and the Parliament Building