Over the past decade, with the joint guidance and commitment of Chinese and African leaders, China-Africa relations have made historic achievements that impressed the whole world, and the flower of China-Africa friendship blossoms with new brilliance. Chen Xiaodong is Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to South Africa.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of President Xi Jinping’s first visit to Africa as Chinese president and his proposal of the principles of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith, and of pursuing the greater good and shared interests for China’s relations with Africa.
Over the past decade, with the joint guidance and commitment of Chinese and African leaders, China-Africa relations have made historic achievements that impressed the whole world, and the flower of China-Africa friendship blossoms with new brilliance.
To draw a new blueprint for China-Africa relations.
Over the past decade, President Xi paid four visits to Africa, chaired Johannesburg and Beijing Summits of the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (FOCAC), hosted online the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity Against Covid-19, attended the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the FOCAC, and announced the 10 co-operation plans, eight major initiatives, nine programmes and other important cooperative actions with the Africa, drawing a new roadmap for the development of China-Africa relations in the new era.
The Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative put forward by President Xi Jinping provide new development opportunities for Africa, winning great recognition and wide support from the African side.
To lend new impetus to common development.
China has been the largest trading partner of Africa for 14 consecutive years, with the bilateral trade volume of over $2 trillion.
In 2022, the volume reached $282 billion, up by 11.1% compared with that of the previous year. The import from the African side accounts for $117.5bn, with a year-on-year growth of 11%.
Some landmark projects like the Africa CDC headquarters, the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway and the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway have been put into operation.
Joint projects of highways, electricity, communications and ports span across Africa. Such co-operation has helped greatly enhance Africa’s capacity for independent and sustainable development.
Thousands of Chinese enterprises make investment and do business in Africa. Dozens of economic and trade co-operation zones and industrial parks are up and running across Africa.
Trade and economic co-operation between China and Africa is becoming more and more diverse, as it extends from traditional fields of trade and construction to emerging fields such as digital and green development, aviation and aerospace, and finance.
To build a new bridge for exchanges and communication.
Over the past decade, China and Africa increased and improved inter-governmental dialogues, consultations and other co-operation mechanisms, conducted interactions between political parties, legislative bodies and political consultative institutions, deepened experience sharing in state governance, and built friendly co-operation patterns with multiple dimensions, channels, forms and facets.
China engages itself in co-operation with Africa in poverty alleviation, health, education, science and technology, environmental protection, climate change, youth and women interaction, and other social aspects, so as to contribute to overall social development of African countries.
Cultural exchanges and people-to-people interactions have kept deepening. The China-Africa Youth Festival, the Forum on China-Africa Local Government Co-operation, the China-Africa Young Leaders Forum, the China-Africa People’s Forum and other events have been successfully held.
There have been as many as 150 pairs of sister cities between China and African countries.
To make new contributions to global governance.
Both the Chinese and the African sides hold high the banner of multilateralism, firmly uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, join hands to promote a more just and equitable international order, and safeguard the common interests of developing countries.
China has always supported the African people in solving African issues in the African way, always supported Africa in playing a bigger role on the world stage, spoken up for Africa at the United Nations and on other multilateral occasions, and is the first country to explicitly support the AU in joining the G20.
At the same time, Africa lends China firm support in issues concerning Taiwan, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and human rights.
To add new dimensions to China-Africa friendship.
Both China and African countries have lent mutual support in the tough struggles for national independence and liberation, helped each other in realising common development, and forged an everlasting spirit of China-Africa friendship and co-operation.
To tackle the serious challenges of Ebola, Covid-19, natural disasters and food crises, China has taken the lead in international assistance to Africa with concrete actions, which vividly demonstrates the brotherhood between China and Africa sharing weal and woe.
In particular, over the past decade, under the guidance of the principles of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith, and of pursuing the greater good and shared interests put forth by President Xi, China-Africa relations have been growing with the “acceleration button” on, and entered a fast track toward a new era of a stronger China-Africa community with a shared future.
Currently, both China and Africa are standing at a new historical starting point and embracing new important opportunities.
Under the joint guidance of Chinese and African leaders, China and Africa will continue to forge ahead hand in hand, take the China-Africa community with a shared future to a new high in the new era, and bring in an even brighter future of China-Africa relations.
Chen Xiaodong is Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to South Africa.
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