China-Africa forum benefits strategic ties, enjoys bright future
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Since its birth a decade ago, the China-Africa Cooperation Forum (FOCAC) has nurtured an ever closer strategic partnership and cooperation will continue to grow and prosper say Chinese diplomats.
The forum "has set a good example for the South-South cooperation, built a platform for consultation and communication and created a mechanism of mutually beneficial cooperation," Liu Guijin, China's special envoy on African affairs, told Xinhua Saturday.
Launched in October 2000, the forum was designed as a platform for collective consultation and dialogue.
Liu said the pragmatic cooperation mechanism China and Africa had forged was widely welcomed by African countries and recognized by the international community.
"As we know, it is better to teach a man to fish than to give him fish," Liu said, indicating that China had not only provided aid, but also exported technology to Africa to help it rise out of poverty.
The forum's ministerial conference meets every three years, and four such meetings have been held so far. The forum also held a summit in November 2006, during which Chinese President Hu Jintao announced a package of proposals to provide assistance, increase investment, and enhance trade cooperation with Africa, seeking to build a new type of strategic partnership.
This meant not attaching political conditions, such as exporting ideology and development modes, not imposing social systems on other countries, and not aiming at a third party or challenging the interests of other countries, Liu said.
In line with the principle of mutual benefit and equality, China had multiplied its channels and modes to offer African nations help, including direct assistance, debt relief, concessional loans, and development funds.
China had helped the African countries with improving infrastructure and training experts in areas such as agriculture, medicine and education.
To facilitate deeper mutual understanding and cultural exchanges, China also built in Africa dozens of Confucius Institutes and promoted exchanges among think tanks and experts.
Official statistics showed trade between China and African nations had surged dramatically over the past decade, rising from 10 billion U.S. dollars in 2000 to 106.8 billion dollars in 2008, according to China's Ministry of Commerce.
The amount fell to 90 billion dollars last year because of the global economic downturn, but it climbed to 61.2 billion dollars in the first half of this year, a 65 percent jump from the same period last year.
China's investment in Africa had grown by 46 percent over the past 10 years. Investment projects focused on fields like water conservancy, electricity plants, and communication and information technologies.
More than 1,600 Chinese firms have investments on the African continent, boosting growth and creating thousands of job opportunities for local populations.
An Yongyu, president of the China Society for African Studies and former ambassador to Kenya, told Xinhua the traditional Sino-African friendship was forged by previous generations of leaders.
He added that as forum grew, it would keep contributing to the mutual benefit and cooperation of China and African nations.
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