At the opening ceremony of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation held on September 3, President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech entitled "Joining hands in common destiny and promoting development with one heart", guiding the building of a closer China Africa community of common destiny in the new era. From mutual support and fighting side by side in the last century to solidarity and mutual benefit, China Africa friendship has become stronger and stronger in more than half a century. As President Xi said, "Anything that promises to African brothers will be done with all one's heart". Faithful and pragmatic is not only the "magic weapon" for China and Africa to become "good friends, good partners and good brothers" forever, but also will make China Africa friendship a model in the history of international relations.
Although China and Africa are far apart, their friendly exchanges have a long history due to similar historical experiences and aspirations for common development. In the 1950s and 1960s, Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and other first generation leaders of New China and the older generation of African politicians jointly ushered in a new era of China Africa relations. The Chinese and African people forged deep brotherhood in the struggle against colonialism and imperialism and for national independence and liberation. In 1971, when China resumed its lawful seat in the United Nations, Chairman Mao Zedong said that "African brothers brought us into the United Nations". In the course of development since then, China and Africa have always shared the same breath, destiny and heart to heart.
In the new century, in order to jointly address challenges and seek development, China and Africa established the Forum on China Africa Cooperation mechanism in 2000, which ushered in a new stage of China Africa friendly cooperation. In its relations with Africa, China has always adhered to the concept of sincerity, sincerity, and righteousness, and has always believed in African countries and been pragmatic. "Faith in words and results in deeds" not only makes China Africa friendship fruitful, but also brings tangible benefits to African countries.
Since the establishment of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation, the trade volume between China and Africa has increased from US $10 billion in 2000 to US $170 billion in 2017. China has become Africa's largest trading partner for nine consecutive years. Since the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation in 2015, China's annual average direct investment in Africa has remained around 3 billion dollars; Projects such as roads, railways, ports and power stations built by Chinese enterprises in Africa have created nearly 900000 jobs in African countries; China has trained 200000 various technical talents for Africa and provided 30000 government scholarships; China has sent medical teams to Africa to treat about 460000 patients.
At present, the "ten major cooperation plans" between China and Africa proposed by President Xi Jinping at the Johannesburg Summit have been fully implemented, with remarkable results. On this basis, President Xi proposed to focus on the implementation of "eight actions" in the next three years and a period of time: industrial promotion, facility connectivity, trade facilitation, green development, capacity building, health, and people to people exchanges. In order to promote the "eight major actions", China plans to provide another 60 billion dollars of support to Africa. It is believed that with the joint efforts of China and Africa, the China Africa community of common destiny will be more dynamic and have a brighter future.
(The article in this column was originally published by China Industrial Network. If it is reproduced by online media, the source must be indicated as "China Industrial Network". If it is reproduced by print media, it must be authorized by China Industrial Network.)
