With trade between China and Africa reaching a record high of $282.1 billion last year, China’s Ambassador to South Africa Wu Peng has highlighted the effects of enhancing solidarity and cooperation with African countries.
“In 2023, the trade between China and Africa reached a record high of 282.1 billion US dollars, a 26-fold increase compared with the founding year of the Forum [on China-Africa Cooperation]; China’s foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa exceeded 40 billion US dollars, growing by over 100 folds compared with the year 2000,” Peng said on Friday in Pretoria.
Addressing the launch of a book titled ‘Xi Jinping and the Flourishing Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in the New Era’, the Ambassador said the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is the most important symbol of China-Africa solidarity and cooperation.
Since its inception in 2000, FOCAC has facilitated collective dialogue and practical cooperation between China and Africa in an effort to promote relations.
“For the past 24 years since its formation, FOCAC has become an exemplar for international cooperation with Africa and a model for South-South cooperation.
“Fifty-two African countries and the African Union Commission have signed Belt and Road cooperation documents with China. It is China’s long-term strategic choice and the cornerstone of our foreign policy to enhance solidarity and cooperation with African countries, including South Africa,” Peng said.
Projects carrying the ‘dream of the century’ for African countries, such as the AU Conference Centre, the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway, the Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway, the Maputo-Katembe Bridge, have all been completed.
“In Africa, China has built and upgraded more than 10,000 kilometres of railways. We have constructed nearly 100,000 kilometres of highways and over 60,000 kilometres of submarine cables, as well as nearly 1,000 bridges, 100 ports and over 100 health facilities and schools.
“Chinese enterprises help build networks in African countries. They have served more than 900 million African people, improving Africa’s capacity for self-driven, sustainable development, and creating great opportunities for both China and Africa to make progress and achieve prosperity.
“FOCAC stands out from the many global and transregional cooperation frameworks as well as initiatives on cooperation with Africa. This is largely because it always advocates [for] friendship and cooperation, and follows the principles of mutual respect, treating each other as equals and joint consultation,” the Ambassador explained.
The future in mind
He said in planning initiatives coming out of FOCAC, China always refers to the African Union’s (AU) Agenda 2063, and is committed to dovetailing the second centenary goal with the core strategies of the AU and African countries.
“For example, to support Africa’s green development, China uses environmental governance technologies to help grow Africa’s Great Green Wall.
“We build water-saving irrigation pilot areas in Mauritania, Nigeria and Ethiopia, and use Juncao grass technology to create green jobs in South Africa, Kenya and Rwanda.
“At a critical moment in South Africa’s green energy transition, Chinese enterprises such as Goldwind and Longyuan Power have entered the South African market,” the Ambassador said.
They have built and operated multiple wind power projects, sending power to thousands of households in South Africa, and creating a large number of jobs for local people.
The book launch comes as African leaders prepare to attend the FOCAC summit, which is going to be held in early September under the theme ‘Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future’.
Chinese and African leaders will once again gather in Beijing to discuss the future of China and Africa.
South Africa was the co-chair of the FOCAC Johannesburg Summit held in 2015 and has played an important role in FOCAC development. -SAnews.gov.za
