BEIJING, Sept. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The 1,860-km-long
Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) railway from
Tanzania's Dar es Salaam to New
Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia serves as
a reminder of the longstanding relationship between China and Tanzania.
Over its 48 years of operation, the railway has transported over
30 million tonnes of cargo and carried more than 40 million
passengers, becoming a vital artery that ensures the economic
operation and development of Tanzania, Zambia, and surrounding areas.
On Wednesday, leaders of the three countries jointly witnessed
the signing of a memorandum of understanding on the revitalization
project of the TAZARA railway, aiming to further improve the
rail-sea intermodal transport network in East Africa.
In the new era, China has
continued to bring new opportunities to African countries and
remained committed to the overall direction of mutual trust, mutual
benefit, mutual learning and mutual assistance in growing
China-Africa relations.
Delivering a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 2024
Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) on
Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed that China and Africa are getting stronger and more resilient
together, delivering tangible benefits to Chinese and Africans, and
setting a stellar example of a new type of international
relations.
Xi announced that bilateral relations between China and all African countries having
diplomatic ties with China are
elevated to the level of strategic relations and that the overall
characterization of China-Africa
relations is elevated to an all-weather China-Africa
community with a shared future for the new era.
Flourishing China-Africa
cooperation
Since its establishment in 2000, the FOCAC has continuously
promoted the leap-forward development of China-Africa
relations, setting a prime example for South-South cooperation and
international cooperation with Africa.
Over the past 24 years, China-Africa
practical cooperation has yielded fruitful results, and exchanges
in various fields have been unprecedentedly active.
China-Africa trade volume has increased from
$10.5 billion in 2000 to $282.1 billion in 2023, an increase of nearly 26
times. As of the end of 2023, China's direct investment stock in
Africa had exceeded $40 billion.
Meanwhile, the two sides have cooperated to build and upgrade
nearly 100,000 kilometers of roads, more than 10,000 kilometers of
railways, nearly a thousand bridges and a hundred ports. Fifty-two
African countries and the African Union Commission signed documents
with China on the Belt and Road
cooperation.
With the help of China, the
building of several roads, bridges, and ports has promoted
connectivity on the African continent. For instance, the
Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway has significantly reduced
transportation costs and travel times, fostering trade and
commerce. The Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway connects landlocked
Ethiopia to the port of
Djibouti, enabling greater access
to international markets.
In a bid to deepen China-Africa
cooperation and spearhead the Global South modernization, Xi said
China stands ready to work with
Africa to implement ten
partnership action plans in the next three years, covering the
areas of mutual learning among civilizations, trade prosperity,
industrial chain cooperation, connectivity, development
cooperation, health, agriculture and livelihood, cultural and
people-to-people exchanges, green development, and common
security.
China will expand market access
for African agricultural products, push forward the pilot zone for
in-depth China-Africa economic and trade cooperation, and
carry out 30 infrastructure connectivity projects in Africa, he said.
He added that China will send
2,000 medical personnel to Africa,
launch 20 programs on health facilities and malaria treatment, and
send 500 agricultural experts to strengthen health and agricultural
capacities in African countries.
A shared path toward modernization
In the new era, China and
Africa are committed to building a
closer community with a shared future and becoming fellow travelers
in exploring the path to modernization.
China has assisted Africa in solving development problems such as
lagging infrastructure, food shortages, and talent shortages while
entering Africa has also brought
opportunities for Chinese companies to expand their overseas
markets.
For instance, in Tanzania's
coastal region, Chinese-invested Sapphire Float Glass Factory both
serves the local market and exports float glass to six other
African nations. Inaugurated in September
2023, the project was expected to generate up to 1,650
direct jobs and 6,000 indirect jobs upon reaching full production
capacity. The factory has created 1,012 direct jobs for residents
and 3,857 indirect jobs.
In the field of agriculture, China has established 24 agricultural
technology demonstration centers in Africa over the past decade and introduced
more than 300 advanced agricultural technologies, increasing local
crop yields by an average of 30 to 60 percent and benefiting over a
million farmers across the continent.
Currently, over 200 Chinese enterprises are continuing
investments in Africa's
agricultural sector, with a cumulative investment stock exceeding
$1 billion. These investments span
various areas, including agricultural supplies and machinery,
farming, processing and sales.
"On the path to modernization, no one, and no country, should be
left behind," Xi said at the opening ceremony of the 2024 FOCAC
summit, calling for jointly advancing modernization that is just
and equitable, is open and win-win, puts the people first, features
diversity and inclusiveness, is eco-friendly and is underpinned by
peace and security.
China and Africa's joint pursuit of modernization will
set off a wave of modernization in the Global South and open a new
chapter in our drive for a community with a shared future for
mankind, he said.
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-09-05/China-Africa-eye-new-chapter-in-building-community-with-shared-future-1wDYAx3CGLm/p.html
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