by Zhang Lin, Luo Guofang, Muhammad Yamany
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- The fourth ministerial meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be held in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Nov. 8-9.
The FOCAC, jointly proposed and established by China and more than 40 African countries in 2000, is a collective consultation and dialogue mechanism between China and African countries, as well as a major and future-oriented move in the context of South-South cooperation to seek common development in the new situation.
The main agenda of the upcoming conference in Egypt is to review the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and the Program for China-Africa Cooperation in Economic and Social Development, two documents adopted during the first ministerial meeting of the forum in Beijing, explore new initiatives and measures on the way toward Sino-African cooperation in such areas of priority as human resources, agriculture, infrastructure, investment and trade.
ACHIEVEMENTS SINCE BEIJING SUMMIT
In 2006, the landmark Beijing Summit of the FOCAC was held in China at the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the first African country. The summit called for the establishment of a "new type of strategic partnership" between China and Africa.
Since then, with the joint efforts of China and Africa, the consensus reached at the Summit are being actively implemented, yielding fruitful results in Chinese-African cooperation.
China and Africa have witnessed closer cooperation in various fields, Zhang Ming, secretary-general of the Chinese Follow-Up Committee of FOCAC and director-general of the Department of African Affairs in Chinese Foreign Ministry, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.
Progress has been made in carrying out eight measures to push forward Chinese-African cooperation announced by Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Beijing Summit of the FOCAC, said Zhang.
The eight measures included China's pledge to double its assistance to Africa by 2009, provide 3 billion U.S. dollars of preferential loans and 2 billion dollars of preferential buyer's credits, as well as establish a development fund of 5 billion dollars to encourage Chinese firms to invest in Africa. Debt cancellation was another major measure.
In terms of China's assistance to Africa, more than 90 percent of the plan had been implemented by the end of September 2009, with a prospect of doubling its assistance to Africa by the end of the year, according to the statistics released by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.
China has so far cancelled debts for 33 heavily-indebted poor countries and least developed countries and extended zero-tariff treatment to commodities from dozens of the least developed countries.
China pledged in 2006 to endeavor to bring bilateral trade to 100 billion dollars by 2010. However, despite the global financial crisis, the bilateral trade jumped to 108 million dollars last year, almost doubling the figure in 2006. Nearly half of the African countries expanded their exports to China by more than 50 percent.
By the end of 2008, China had invested in 49 African countries and regions with a total amount of 26 billion dollars of various kinds, among which direct investment was 7.8 billion dollars.
Meanwhile, China-Africa Development Fund is in operation, debt-relief is half way through, zero-tariff measures have been implemented, work on the African Union Center has started.
By the end of September 2009, China had trained 13,307 African people, estimated to reach 15,000 by the end of the year. Many Chinese agriculture experts and young volunteers went to Africa to offer hands.
Centers for malaria control and prevention, advanced agricultural technique centers and rural schools are under construction in Africa with the help of China.
Cooperation in culture, sports, finance, science and technology, civil aviation and tourism has boosted the development of the new type of China-Africa strategic partnership.
"China-Africa forum is established due to the wise Chinese policy which based on consultation and cooperation with different groups around the world," Mohamed Abdelwahab el-Saket, former ambassador of the Cairo-based Arab League to China, told Xinhua.
"This forum is crowning the Chinese-African relationships as China has provided the African countries with assistance and loans to support their economic development," he said.
"China is helping the continent to invest its resources in a way which guarantees more economic development," he added.
