New Year trip shows China attaches great importance to Africa: Chinese FM
BEIJING, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -The fact that Chinese foreign ministers chose Africa for their first visit every year shows that China attaches great importance to Africa, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
China has a good diplomatic tradition starting from 1991 that foreign ministers have come to Africa for the first visit every year, Wang said in an interview with the People’s Daily as he concluded on Saturday his trips to five African nations, namely Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Botswana, Tanzania, and Seychelles.
Such a concrete action also embodies the traditional friendship between China and Africa and China’s firm support for Africa’s development and revitalization, Wang said, adding that it also illustrates an important diplomatic principle that China always stands together with developing countries.
Noting that this tradition has been held for the past 30 years, Wang said it should not be interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic this year and China will not flinch.
African countries are also looking forward to the arrival of their Chinese friends, he added.
The two sides need to overcome difficulties, promote cooperation and seek a better future together through face-to-face communication, Wang said.
Wang said he held meetings respectively with leaders and foreign ministers from the five African countries, during which they have reached broad consensuses on implementing the important consensus reached by Chinese and African leaders, carrying forward the traditional friendship between the two sides and enhancing political mutual trust.
The Chinese diplomat said they also reached consensuses on joint fight against the pandemic, speeding up the resumption of major cooperation projects, pushing forward the joint building of the Belt and Road, and strengthening coordination on global and regional affairs.
A series of agreements were also signed during the meetings, which have deepened bilateral friendship, enhanced mutual trust, promoted cooperation and accumulated consensuses, he said.
Urgent need to strengthen antiCOVID-19 cooperation
As the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is still raging across the globe, China and Africa face an urgent need to strengthen cooperation and firmly keep committed to mutual support to prevail over the disease, said Wang Yi.
Since the onset of the pandemic, African countries have provided firm support for China, which China will always remember, Wang said, adding that China has launched the largest humanitarian assistance since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, extending its helping hand to 53 African countries and the African Union.
As the two sides support each other and never turn one’s back on the other, their traditional friendship has been further elevated, Wang said, adding that Chinese President Xi Jinping has proposed the Extraordinary ChinaAfrica Summit on Solidarity against COVID-19, which has provided important strategic guidance for joint fight of the virus.
During this trip to Africa, Wang noted, the two sides had in-depth exchange over the follow-ups to the summit.
Noting that the African countries spoke highly of China as it has taken the lead to stem the spread of the coronavirus, reopen economy, and offer large-scale support to Africa, Wang said the African side applauded the achievements of the joint anti-pandemic fight and expressed confidence in their co-work to defeat the disease.
Some leaders of African countries, including Seychelles president, have said they will be among the first to take a vaccine from China, Wang added.
Wang noted that China will continue to deliver urgently needed anti-virus supplies to African friends, send medical teams to countries in need, establish a cooperation mechanism of counterpart hospitals, promote the sharing of anti-virus experience, accelerate the construction of Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) headquarters building, and work with G20 members on the debt suspension in Africa.
China will fulfill its firm commitment that its vaccines will be provided as global public good, and stands ready to cooperate with African countries in need on COVID-19 vaccines and make them more accessible and affordable in Africa, Wang said.
In light of the ongoing risks from COVID-19, it is increasingly important to sustain economy and ensure employment and people’s livelihood, Wang said, noting that the Chinese side has maintained the operations of its more than 1,100 Belt and Road cooperation projects in Africa, with nearly 100,000 Chinese technical and engineering personnel staying at their posts.
A batch of projects such as railways, roads and power stations have re-started despite the pandemic, contributing a lot to local socio-economic development, Wang said.
The Chinese diplomat added that he and leaders and foreign ministers of the African side agreed that it is necessary to coordinate COVID-19 prevention and control as well as the resumption of work and production in a scientific way, work hard to restore trade between China and Africa, keep the industrial and supply chains running well, and support African countries in stabilizing economy, preserving jobs and protecting people’s well-being.
Brighter future for Belt and Road cooperation between China, Africa
The Belt and Road cooperation between China and Africa, which has overcome the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and external interference, is covering most of the African continent and will surely have a brighter future, said Wang Yi.
The socio-economic development of African countries has overcome various hardships and maintained overall stability, demonstrating resilience and vitality, Wang said.
Meanwhile, as they are facing more prominent structural problems amid the COVID-19 pandemic, African countries are eager to speed up their economic transformation and look forward to strengthening the Belt and Road cooperation with China, so as to break their bottlenecks in infrastructure, funding and human resources, and enhance their capacity for independent development, Wang said.
He noted that during his trip, the DRC and Botswana signed respectively a memorandum of understanding with China on jointly building the Belt and Road, becoming successively the 45th and the 46th African partner countries to participate in Belt and Road cooperation.
China is willing to make joint efforts with Africa to strengthen strategic alignment and build consensus on cooperation in line with the expectations of African countries, and push forward the joint building of the Belt and Road between China and Africa, Wang said.
First, with a focus on infrastructure construction, China will help promote connectivity in Africa, Wang said, noting that the completion of such Belt and Road projects as the MombasaNairobi railway and the EthiopiaDjibouti railway have greatly promoted the industrial development and resource circulation along the routes.
China will continue to actively participate in Africa’s infrastructure construction in such areas as transportation, energy and communications, and inject momentum into Africa’s economic development, he said.
Second, China will support the construction of Africa free trade area and foster a large market between China and Africa, Wang said.
Noting that the Chinese market is a market for the world, he said China is more willing to share China’s development opportunities with African brothers.
China, he added, stands ready to take the opportunity of China’s construction of a new development paradigm and the launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area to expand the import of high-quality African products, strengthen the connectivity of the supply and industrial chains of both sides, drive the Chinese and African markets to reinforce each other and jointly cultivate a China-Africa market boasting a population of 2.7 billion.
Third, China will optimize the distribution of capacity investment to help accelerate Africa’s industrialization, Wang said.
The Asian country, he added, stands ready to encourage Chinese enterprises to increase investment in Africa, actively explore cooperation in industrial parks, special economic zones and regional development belts, and enhance the aggregation and added value of Africa’s industrialization.
China will help Africa transform more resource advantages into development advantages at an early date, help Africa realize economic diversification and build up its internal driving force for independent development, he said.
Fourth, China will bolster cooperation in scientific and technological innovation to help Africa achieve leapfrog development, he said.
Noting that digital economy bears on the future of mankind and represents a development direction that African countries generally attach importance to, Wang said China is ready to share digital economy technology and experience with Africa and support African countries in catching up with the fourth industrial revolution.
China is also ready to work with Africa to jointly build a green economy and pursue green, low-carbon, circular and sustainable development, he added.
Joint efforts to upgrade cooperation under FOCAC
China and Africa have agreed to carry forward the spirit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) featuring extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits and seize new opportunities to upgrade China-Africa cooperation, said Wang Yi.
Noting that the FOCAC is an important platform for collective dialogue and an effective mechanism for practical cooperation between China and Africa, Wang said the FOCAC has achieved fruitful results since its inception 20 years ago.
In particular, the 2018 Beijing Summit of the FOCAC decided to build an even stronger China-Africa community with a shared future, marking a new milestone in ChinaAfrica friendly cooperation, Wang added.
He said that China and Africa have reached a consensus that the COVID-19 pandemic can not stop them from moving forward hand in hand, and the two sides will continue to strengthen the construction of the forum.
China will step up health cooperation with Africa and help Africa on major disease prevention, Wang said, adding that China will also strengthen industrial capacity cooperation with Africa and help Africa enhance its home-grown production capacity.
Meanwhile, China is ready to promote cooperation with Africa on regional connectivity and help Africa enhance its infrastructure connectivity, Wang said. In addition, China will work with Africa to advance agricultural cooperation and help the region enhance food security, he added.
The Chinese diplomat said his country will also increase digital cooperation with Africa to help it seize the opportunity of the information revolution, and will boost China-Africa environmental cooperation to help Africa improve its ability to cope with climate change and jointly forge a green Africa.
Besides, Wang noted that China will step up military and security cooperation with Africa and help Africa enhance its peacekeeping and antiterrorism capabilities, adding the Asian country will strengthen cooperation with Africa on personnel and skills training and help Africa cultivate talents.
With the joint efforts of the two sides, the FOCAC will lead to fruitful cooperation between China and Africa and make new contributions to the building of an even stronger ChinaAfrica community with a shared future, Wang added.
A big stage for international cooperation
China-Africa cooperation has become a pioneer in global cooperation with Africa, and has promoted other countries to pay more attention to Africa and increase their investment in Africa, Wang Yi said, adding that this is a good thing for Africa, and as a friend of Africa, China is also happy about it.
China-Africa cooperation features an early launch, rapid progress, various fields, heavy investment and fruitful results, Wang said. In its cooperation with Africa, China always follows the principle of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith and the principle of pursuing the greater good and shared interests.
Meanwhile, the Asian country never attaches any political strings and never interferes in Africa’s internal affairs, which is welcomed by African countries, Wang said.
According to the Chinese foreign minister, China has built over 6,000 km of railways and roads respectively, nearly 20 ports and over 80 large electric power facilities, and constructed over 130 medical facilities, 45 stadiums and over 170 schools across Africa. Also, China has sent 21,000 medical workers to 48 African countries and treated about 220 million African patients.
Noting that the tangible achievements of China-Africa cooperation have blossomed everywhere on the African continent, which have met Africa’s needs and improved the African people’s livelihood, Wang said it is undeniable that China-Africa cooperation is a well-deserved leading endeavor in international cooperation with Africa.
Noting that China-Africa cooperation has never been closed or exclusive, Wang said China stands ready to actively promote tripartite or multi-party cooperation with Africa, so as to jointly play a constructive role in promoting peace and development in Africa.
Africa should be a big stage for international cooperation, not an arena for competition between major countries, he added.
Rock-solid friendship
China-Africa friendship remains rock-solid and stable, no matter what the international situation they face and what difficulties, obstacles, or disruptions they encounter, said Wang.
In the cause of independence and liberation of African nations, China and Africa were good comrades-inarms and good brothers through thick and thin, and in the process of Africa’s modernization, they are good partners for common development and good friends for win-win cooperation, he added.
Meanwhile, in upholding the common rights and interests of developing countries and promoting greater democracy in international relations, China and Africa also work shoulder to shoulder and stand back to back, he said.
During this visit, the message sent by China and Africa to the outside world is very clear, Wang noted.
The two sides both cherish the friendly tradition and are determined to carry it forward, and they both affirm their strong support for each other and vow to jointly safeguard national sovereignty and dignity, he explained.
They both shoulder the mission of national rejuvenation and stand ready to join hands to safeguard their legitimate right to development, and they are both committed to fairness and justice, advocate true multilateralism and oppose any external interference, he added.
Going forward, China and Africa will further strengthen strategic coordination to enrich their comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields to accelerate common development, step up people-to-people and cultural exchanges to enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples, Wang said.
China and Africa will also increase coordination in international affairs to help shape the international order toward greater justice and equity, and further forge a common understanding to jointly build an even stronger ChinaAfrica community with a shared future, he added.