Sept. 2, 2024

The Chinese Government has pledged to remain committed to further deepening its cooperation with Africa in four key areas: strategic alignment, connectivity, new areas of cooperation, and coordination.

This was disclosed by government officials at a joint news conference on Belt and Road cooperation between China and Africa, ahead of the 2024 summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) on Monday in Beijing, China.

The officials include Ms Xu Jianping, Director-General, Department of Regional Opening-up of National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), and Mr Wang Heming, Director-General, Bureau of Sub-Saharan African Affairs of International Department, Central Committee of CPC (IDCPC).

Others were Mr Meng Yuying, Director-General, International Taxation Department of the State Taxation Administration (STA), and Mr Li Yonghong, Deputy Director-General, Foreign Environmental Cooperation, Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China.

They outlined China’s plans to implement existing cooperation agreements and expand cooperation to more African countries.

According to the Chinese Government, China will continue to improve Africa’s infrastructure, promote trade and investment facilitation, and enhance people-to-people exchanges.

“China will also expand cooperation in new areas such as digital economy, green development, and innovation, and establish more cooperation mechanisms with African countries to coordinate and solve problems in cooperation.”

The government highlighted significant achievements in China-Africa cooperation, including strategic alignment, infrastructure connectivity, new areas of cooperation, and improving people’s livelihoods.

“China and Africa have made significant progress in aligning their development strategies, with 52 African countries having established a high-level consensus on the principles, goals, and key areas of cooperation.

“China has participated in the construction of over 10,000 kilometres of railways, 100,000 kilometres of highways, nearly 1,000 bridges, and 100 ports in Africa, improving Africa’s infrastructure and promoting economic development.

“Cooperation has also expanded in new areas such as health, green development, digital economy, and innovation, with various projects implemented to improve people’s livelihoods in Africa.”(NAN)