BEIJING, Sept. 5,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2024 Summit of the Forum on
China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was held on Thursday. Chinese
President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony and delivered a
keynote address titled "Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and
Build a Community with a Shared Future." President Xi proposed that
bilateral relations between China
and all African countries having diplomatic ties with China be elevated to the level of strategic
relations, and that the overall characterization of China-Africa
relations be elevated to an all-weather China-Africa
community with a shared future for the new era. The Summit adopted
the Beijing Declaration on Jointly Building an All-Weather
China-Africa Community with a Shared Future for the New Era and the
Beijing Action Plan (2025-2027) of FOCAC. China-Africa
cooperation has opened a new chapter in the history of jointly
advancing modernization.
President Xi stressed that China and Africa account for one-third of the world
population. Without our modernization, there will be no global
modernization. In the next three years, China will work with Africa to take the following 10 partnership
actions for modernization to deepen China-Africa
cooperation and spearhead the Global South modernization. By
closely connecting the future of China and Africa through the theme of modernization, the
development momentum will be generated. The global vision embodied
in this blueprint, and the vast creativity and potential it
contains serves as a model and source of inspiration for the Global
South as well as the entire world. The momentum is boundless.
In the 10 partnership actions, Xi announced that China has decided to give all least developed
countries (LDCs) having diplomatic relations with China, including 33 countries in Africa, zero-tariff treatment for 100 percent
tariff lines. This is a proactive, unilateral move by China to expand its market access.
China is the first developing
country and major global economy to implement such an initiative,
demonstrating that in promoting development with the world,
China is creating opportunities
and achieving win-win outcomes without any hidden agenda, any
geopolitical self-interest, or any conditions attached. If
China-Africa cooperation is like a mirror, what
people see in it is not only enormous development opportunities,
but also China's genuine goodwill
and global vision.
And this is just an epitome of China-Africa
cooperation. The 10 partnership actions cover a wide range of
areas, from mutual learning, trade prosperity, and infrastructure
development to healthcare, agricultural collaboration,
people-to-people exchanges, green development, and common security.
For example, it highlights that China will provide 60,000 training
opportunities to Africa, mainly
for women and youths, which is aimed at addressing the career
development concerns of African youths and cultivating a new
generation of talent for Africa.
China will also send 500
agricultural experts, and establish a China-Africa
agricultural science and technology innovation alliance, addressing
issues of food security and self-sufficiency in Africa in the context of global climate
change. The 10 partnership actions are concrete, aimed at providing
feasible solutions to specific problems.
China is serious and
responsible in fulfilling its commitment to Africa. It is not difficult to see from the 10
partnership actions that China has
been committed to helping African countries achieve political
stability and social stability. On the foundation of stability,
China helps African countries seek
long-term sustainable development, focusing not only on solving the
longstanding issues that hinder Africa's development but also on new pathways
that advance Africa's future
progress. This indicates that the China-Africa
community with a shared future is by no means a temporary plan;
rather, it transcends specific moments and events, genuinely
focusing on the overall development of Africa. This is why it possesses a vigorous
and inexhaustible driving force and demonstrates strong
resilience.
The exploration of building a high-level China-Africa
community with a shared future holds significant global and
contemporary importance. Developing countries face a variety of
real challenges and are easily affected by the complex and changing
international situation, which can disrupt or even hinder the
achievement of established goals. If China-Africa
cooperation can carve out a new path for South-South cooperation,
it would be a tremendous encouragement for countries in the Global
South. This would provide a fresh perspective on addressing global
development issues and has positive implications for demonstration
and promotion.
China has a population of over
1.4 billion, and Africa also has a
population of over 1.4 billion. Such a huge modernization process
is unprecedented in the history of human civilization. China has a firm determination that "on the
path to modernization, no one, and no country, should be left
behind." This vision as a major country will write a new chapter in
the history of human development, making the future of
modernization in the Global South promising, and it will also
promote a bright prospect for the world toward peace, security,
prosperity and progress.
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SOURCE Global Times