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Huo Su-Correspondent
Upon invitation, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang visited Ethiopia, Gabon, Angola, Benin, Egypt, the African Union Headquarters and the League of Arab States Headquarters on January 9 to 16.
This is the 33rd consecutive year that Africa has been the destination of Chinese foreign ministers’ annual first overseas visit, which reflects the profound traditional friendship between China and Africa, and also pushed China-Africa co-operation to a new level.
China-Africa relations have scored historic achievements in the past decade and are entering a new era of building a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future. China is sincerely committed to helping Africa achieve peace, security and development.
China’s cooperation with Africa has always respected the will of the African people and has been based on the needs of these countries. China has never sought political gains or attached any political strings. The country believes that what Africa needs is solidarity and co-operation, not bloc confrontation. No country or person has the right to force African countries to take sides.
To speed up the delivery of the outcomes of the eighth Forum on China–Africa Co-operation (FOCAC) ministerial conference and promote further development of Belt and Road co-operation, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang made a four-point proposal in this regard, namely, intensify in-person interactions and connectivity of ideas between China and Africa.
This will further deepen friendly relations between China and the AU.
China will do more to upgrade and elevate China-Africa co-operation and stand firm in defending the unity and co-operation of developing countries. African countries are impressed by China’s sincerity.
Cooperation between China and Africa practical, open and inclusive. China is happy to see that African countries can achieve development by co-operating with any country that sincerely helps the continent.
With African countries’ consent, China is ready to carry out trilateral or multilateral co-operation with any country in Africa and jointly make a greater contribution to continent’s development.
On January 11, the inauguration of the new headquarters of the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) was held.
As a flagship project of China’s co-operation with Africa, the building was delivered promptly with high quality, demonstrating the high level of China-Africa co-operation, as well as China’s style that values credibility, friendship and efficiency.
China-Zimbabwe co-operation has also brought tangible benefits to the Zimbabwean people. In early 2020, then Chinese State councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Zimbabwe, which greatly promoted the development of bilateral co-operation between the two countries.
In recent years, many projects implemented by China in Zimbabwe have provided support for promoting Zimbabwe’s economic development and improving people’s livelihood, including the National Pharmaceutical Warehouse, the 1 000 borehole project, and the New Parliament Building, the Kariba South Hydro Power Station Expansion, Hwange Thermal Power Station Expansion, Victoria Falls International Airport Upgrading, expansion and upgrading of the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, Netone broadband construction, millions of Covid-19 vaccine donation, and many batches of medical experts and agriculture experts.
Looking ahead, China-Zimbabwe bilateral co-operation always gives top priority to supporting Zimbabwe’s economic and social development, respect the independent choices of the Government and people, stay open and inclusive, and bring benefits to the two countries and its peoples.
A number of new projects are underway, including China-Zimbabwe Juncao Technology Co-operation Project, High Performance Computing Centre Phase 2, China-Aid Anti-Narcotics Laboratory, and Centre for Co-operation on Satellite Remote-Sensing Application among others.
China believes that guided by the principles of sincerity, real results, affinity and good faith and a commitment to the greater good and shared interests, the future augurs well for China-Africa relations and holds great promise for the China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era.
Online Reporter