MEANING OF CHINA’S 70TH ANNIVERSARY

ON OCTOBER 1, 1949, Chairman Mao declared, “The Chinese people, one-quarter of humanity, have stood up… From now on no one will insult us again.” Seventy years later China celebrated the same day that the Chinese Communist Party under Mao declared as marking the end of a century of humiliation at the hands of Japan and imperialist powers in the West.

To mark the 70 years of freedom, President Xi Jinping stated: “No force can shake the status of our great motherland, no force can obstruct the advance of the Chinese people and Chinese nation.”

What does China’s 70th anniversary mean for Africa? President Xi Jinping has made four visits to Africa, in addition to many more that he took before acceding to the presidency. The frequency of his visits underscores the importance that he attaches to this continent. He has not forgotten the common bonds that bind China and Africa and he emphasised this appropriately at the Focac Conference (Forum on China-Africa Co-operation) in September last year when he asserted: “With similar fate in the past and a common mission, China and Africa have extended sympathy to and helped each other throughout all the years. Together, we have embarked on a distinctive path of win-win co-operation.”

At the same conference, China once again demonstrated its commitment to Africa by pledging $60 billion (R919bn) to Africa in the form of assistance, investments and loans.