| Strides Made in Meeting FOCAC Goals |
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| Wednesday,November 07,2007 Posted: 17:30 BJT(0930 GMT) |
| From:New Era Article type:Reproduced |
Strides Made in Meeting FOCAC Goals
(By Staff Reporter, New Era)
November 4 marked one year after the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
The acting Chinese Ambassador to Namibia, Lin Jing, hosted a dinner to commemorate the historic event, in line with the resolutions of the 2006 China- Africa summit.
The Summit adopted the Declaration of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the Beijing Action Plan (2007- 2009), and decided to establish a new type of China-Africa strategic partnership featuring political equality and mutual trust, economic win-win cooperation and cultural exchanges. It also laid down the goal for China-Africa cooperation in various fields in the next three years.
Eight policy measures to enhance practical cooperation between China and Africa and support African development announced by Chinese President Hu Jintao, on behalf of the Chinese government, have provided fresh impetus to China-Africa cooperation in the new era.
“China values its friendship with Africa. To strengthen unity and cooperation with Africa is a key principle guiding China’s foreign policy. China will continue to support Africa in implementing the New Partnership for Africa’s Development and in its effort to strengthen itself through unity, achieve peace and stability and economic revitalisation in the region and raise its international standing,” President Jintao said.
To forge a new type of China-Africa strategic partnership and strengthen cooperation in more areas and at a higher level, the Chinese government pledged to: double its 2006 assistance to Africa by 2009; provide US$3 billion of preferential loans; and US$2 billion of preferential buyer’s credits to Africa in the next three years.
China said it would set up a China-Africa development fund which would reach US$5 billion to encourage Chinese companies to invest in Africa and provide support to them. It would build a conference centre for the African Union to support African countries in efforts to strengthen unity and support the process of African integration.
All interest-free government loans that matured at the end of 2005 owed by the heavily indebted poor countries and the least developed countries in Africa that have diplomatic relations with China would be cancelled, President Jintao said.
China pledged to further open up China’s market to Africa by increasing from 190 to over 440 the number of export items to China receiving zero-tariff treatment from the least developed countries in Africa having diplomatic ties with China.
Three to five trade and economic cooperation zones in Africa were to be established in the next three years.
China was to train 15000 African professionals; send 100 senior agricultural experts to Africa; set up 10 special agricultural technology demonstration centres in Africa; build 30 hospitals in Africa and provide RMB300 million of grant for providing artemisinin and building 30 malaria prevention and treatment centres to fight malaria in Africa; dispatch 300 youth volunteers to Africa; build 100 rural schools in Africa; and increase the number of Chinese government scholarships to African students from the current 2000 per year to 4 000 per year by 2009.
Immediately after the Summit, China made a comprehensive plan for conducting follow-up cooperation in various areas on the basis of the outcome documents of the Summit, and worked out an overall plan as well as specific programmes for implementing the eight policy measures.
In January this year, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing visited seven African countries to start implementing the Summit outcomes. Soon afterwards, Chinese President Jintao visited eight African countries including Namibia and had in-depth exchanges of views and reached broad agreements with African leaders on advancing a new type of China-Africa strategic partnership, expanding practical cooperation and promoting common development.
President Jintao’s visit marked the full launching of the eight policy measures. Later, Wu Bangguo, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, and Jia Qinglin, Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, paid respective visits to Africa and further advanced the implementation of the Summit outcomes.
Chinese government departments in charge of commerce, education, agriculture and health and Chinese financial institutions sent a number of delegations to Africa to consult African officials on cooperation in their respective areas of responsibility and conduct field studies.
Implementation of the eight policy measures announced by President Jintao at the Summit is one of the core follow-up actions.
China adheres to the following principles in implementing the follow-up actions: sincerity and goodwill and conduct consultations on equal footing, coordinated arrangements to ensure greater benefit, take a pragmatic approach and work in order of priority and make incremental progress and ensure efficiency.
The African leaders and governments have given full support to China and offered many good and constructive suggestions regarding the implementation of Summit outcomes. A number of African countries have set up special committees or coordination mechanisms headed by government leaders and composed of government departments concerned. Some countries have sent delegations to China for consultations on cooperation. So far, over 40 African countries have reached agreement with China on the implementation of the Summit outcomes.
Political Relations
There have been frequent high-level contacts between China and Africa. In the first eight months of this year, three state leaders and the foreign minister of China respectively visited 20 African countries. Three presidents, one prime minister, seven foreign ministers and over 90 ministers from Africa visited China or attended international conferences in China.
Acting in accordance with the Beijing Action Plan of FOCAC, China and Africa decided to hold the first China-Africa foreign ministers’ political consultation in New York on 26 September.
During their deliberations, the Ministers followed up and reviewed the implementation of the Declaration of the Beijing Summit of the FOCAC and Beijing Action Plan and assessed the progress achieved so far. They had extensive exchange of views on the advancement of the new type of strategic partnership between China and Africa, launched during the Beijing Summit of 2006. They also discussed major international and regional issues of mutual interest.
Among the highlights of their discussions was a call on the international community to work actively to build an international environment conducive to poverty alleviation and development in African countries in order to enable them to achieve the Millennium Developments Goals.
They also agreed to promote peace building in Africa conducive to stability, sustainable development, and the welfare of Africa’s peoples, particularly through supporting Africa’s peacekeeping and peace building capacities and endeavors. The African side appreciated the important role that China is playing in maintaining peace and stability in Africa and welcomed her appointment of a special representative on African affairs.
The 4th Ministerial Conference of the FOCAC will be held in Egypt in 2009.
Economic Ties
China’s investment in Africa has grown steadily and the areas of cooperation between the two sides have expanded. In the first six months this year, direct investment by Chinese companies in Africa totaled 485 million US dollar. The China-Africa Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry has carried out a number of activities.
It hosted the China-Africa Business Cooperation Conference in Egypt in May, which was attended by more than 500 Chinese and African entrepreneurs.
The China-Africa Development Fund was launched in June this year. It supports well-established and reputable Chinese companies in making investment in projects in Africa that will upgrade technologies, increase employment and promote economic and social development of the countries concerned.
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Bilateral Visits