BEIJING, Nov. 7 -- Although geographically far apart, China and Africa have time-honored friendship, which has been cemented over the long course of history. Since the beginning of the new century, especially since the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the two sides have been committed to building a new type of strategic partnership, and jointly implementing the eight cooperation measures announced by President Hu Jintao. As a result, China-Africa trade and economic ties have gained a new momentum, bringing benefits to people from both sides.
China-Africa trade has been developing rapidly. It registered an average annual growth rate of over 30 per cent in the past eight years and exceeded 100 billion U.S. dollars for the first time in 2008, realizing the target of "100 billion dollars by 2010" proposed by Premier Wen Jiabao two years ahead of schedule. Chinese investment in Africa has expanded steadily. In 2008, Chinese direct investment in the continent amounted to 5.49 billion dollars. The existing stock of investment had reached 7.8 billion dollars and more than 1,600 Chinese companies had invested in Africa by 2008, covering a wide range of areas from product processing to agricultural development. Substantial progress has been made in infrastructure cooperation.
Chinese enterprises have undertaken the construction of some major projects in Africa, including the east-west expressway in Algeria, the expansion of the Lobito Port in Angola and the Bui hydro-power station in Ghana, which have been widely applauded by local governments and people. After years of efforts, China-Africa trade and economic cooperation has shifted towards a diversified and interactive pattern encompassing trade, investment, aid and project contracting, playing an irreplaceable role in the economic development of both sides.
China has closely followed the development of Africa and sincerely wishes to make its contribution to the African people in developing their nations and creating a better life. To help African countries build their capacity for self-development, China has provided various assistances to 53 countries under the framework of South-South Cooperation over the past 50-strong years. It has finished over 800 complete-plant projects, provided training to 300,000 people, canceled 306 debts for 34 heavily indebted poor and least developed countries, and sent 17,000 medical workers to 43 African countries. The Chinese people will never forget the invaluable support of the African friends in major international issues such as the resumption of China's membership in the UN and the hosting of the Beijing Olympic Games, and their selfless assistance in the wake of the devastating earthquake in 2008.
Over the three years since the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, China and Africa have executed the eight measures to promote development and improve people's well-being, and thus have contributed tremendously to deepening bilateral trade and economic cooperation and advancing social and economic development of Africa.
Under the assistance initiative, the Chinese side has constructed a number of large infrastructure projects including the national stadium of Zambia, the second Bridge of Bamako, Mali, the hydro-power station of Pubara, Gabon, the new airport of Mauritius and the ring road of Nairobi, Kenya. The 100 China-assisted rural schools will accommodate 50,000 children, and the 30 hospitals with Chinese assistance will add 4,000 beds to local medical capacity. The malaria prevention cooperation has covered over 30 countries and benefited hundreds of millions of people. The Ethiopian glass factory invested by the China-Africa Development Fund has filled the vacancy of local industry, and the cotton planting project in Malawi will create 100,000 jobs for local farmers. The Zambia-China Economic and Trade Cooperation Area has already attracted 10 enterprises with a total investment of more than 700 million dollars, and created 6,000 jobs. Meanwhile, Chinese companies have also grown stronger and reaped great profits on the vast African continent. Facts have proven that China-Africa economic and trade relationship features reciprocity, mutual benefit, cooperation and win-win, reflects the aspirations of the peoples and the need of the time, and thus sets up a role model of South-South Cooperation.
2009 is a year when China-Africa economic and trade relationship will continue to prosper on the strong momentum. The Chinese government will, as always, follow the principle of "sincerity and friendship, equal treatment, mutual support and common development", deepen trade and economic cooperation, fight the financial crisis and achieve the goal of common development. I would like to offer the following propositions:
The first proposition is to create a sound environment for cooperation. Coordination shall be intensified at both multilateral and bilateral levels to ensure mutual support for tackling all challenges, including fighting protectionism, promoting the reform of international financial system and addressing global warming. Bilateral trade and investment environment shall be improved and a public service platform be built to facilitate cooperation. The negotiation, signing and implementation of investment protection agreements shall be encouraged and cooperation among financial institutions be strengthened. African Commodities Exhibitions shall be organized well to enlarge the two-way flow of goods.
The second proposition is to elevate the level of trade and economic cooperation. A cooperation mechanism for supervision of imports and exports shall be established to safeguard the interests of consumers on both sides. Efforts shall be made to set up overseas logistics centers in African countries and promote quality exports to Africa. The scope of commodities eligible for duty exemption shall be expanded to increase imports from Africa. Two-way investment shall be further substantiated with China continuing to encourage and support competent and creditworthy companies to invest in Africa while welcoming African entrepreneurs to invest and set up ventures in China.
The third proposition is to enrich the approaches of bilateral cooperation. Rigorous work shall be carried out to explore new ways and means of cooperation, facilitating the shift from a trade-centric approach to one that takes trade as the mainstay while placing equal emphasis on other approaches such as investment, services, technology and project contracting, and advancing cooperation in such sectors as tourism, finance, education and environmental protection. Efforts will be directed to ensure the success of overseas trade and economic cooperation zones, attracting greater investment inflow from Chinese companies and providing convenience of access for small and medium-sized African enterprises to these cooperation zones.
The fourth proposition is to deepen cooperation on projects related to the well-being of the people. Continuous efforts will be committed to advancing cooperation in fields such as human resource training, healthcare, education, environmental protection, technology transfer and tourism. The level of cooperation will be elevated in such fields as agricultural infrastructure, grain production, farming and animal husbandry, transfer and exchanges of agricultural technology as well as processing of agricultural produce. Smooth implementation of aid projects to Africa such as the agro-technology demonstration centers, hospitals, schools and malaria prevention and treatment centers shall be ensured. Efforts shall also be intensified in terms of infrastructure investment in Africa.
Both Africa and China are lands brimming with hope in the current of globalization. We firmly believe that as long as we join hands and work in concert, China-Africa trade and economic cooperation will be bracing for an even brighter future, to the extent of benefiting people from both sides with a wider and deeper dimension.
(Source: China Daily)
