The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was convened in Beijing, during which the important report made by Secretary General Xi Jinping on behalf of the 18th Central Committee attracted the attention of the world. Under a theme of "persisting in the path of peaceful development and promoting the development of a community with a shared future for mankind", a systematic exposition on pursuit of major country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics has been made in the report, which provides a great stability for the international situation that is full of uncertainty, inject “positive momentum” into the pursuit of a better future for human society, and will definitely have a significant positive impact on China -African relations in this new era.
China and Africa is a Community with a Shared Future and Solidarity
In the report, Xi proposed to develop a community with a shared future for mankind which is vividly reflected in China - Africa relations. When China was still struggling in poverty, we chose to tighten our belts to support our African brothers' independence and liberation movement, and as a return we were carried into the UN by African brothers.As a continent where developing countries are most concentrated, Africa is the "foundation of the foundation" of China's diplomacy. In March 2013, Xi chose Africa as his first ever state visit destination after his inauguration as the President of China, which shows a great importance attached to China-Africa relations. For continuous 27 years from 1991 to 2017, the Chinese Foreign Ministers have adopted a practice which called "Annual First Visit Must Be Africa".
At the Johannesburg Summit of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2015, President Xi announced the historic “10 major China-Africa cooperation plans” and a China-Africa Capacity Cooperation Fund with the initial capital of 10 billion USD, which is in line with African countries’ needs of infrastructure construction, industrialization, agricultural modernization, education, health, environmental protection, etc. and warmly welcome by African countries.
Nowadays China is Africa's largest trading partner, the largest job creator and the third largest country of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), an unprecedented bilateral economic and trade ties have been formed between China and Africa. As this continent’s future is relied on peace and stability, China has sent most peacekeeping troops among UN P-5 members and is the second largest contributor to the peacekeeping budget of 2016-2018. There are more than 2,000 Chinese peacekeepers carrying out peacekeeping missions in six mission areas in Africa. China also attaches importance to cultural exchanges with Africa, there are 48 Confucius Institutes and 27 Confucius Classrooms in 32 African countries including Namibia, and more than 110,000 registered trainees are now Folk Ambassadors of China-Africa exchanges.
China Will Never Adopt the So-called "Neo-Colonialism"
Xi pointed out in the report that, China adheres to the principles of sincerity, practical results, affinity and good faith and uphold the values of friendship, justice and shared interests to strengthen cooperation with developing countries, which is a confirmation and extension of the concept of his African policy which was formed during his visit to Africa in 2013. He also pointed out that China has always pursued an independent foreign policy of peace and respecting the rights of people of another state in choosing their path of development. China always opposes the imposition of one country's will on another, interference in another state's internal affairs, and bullying of the weak by the strong. China is committed to mutual respect and win-win cooperation with Africa, and will never adopt the so-called "Neo-Colonialism". Actually, China-Africa cooperation brings tangible benefits to African countries and peoples. For example, in terms of the “10 major China-Africa cooperation plans”, China will provide Africa with a 60 billion US dollars financial support. And after the Johannesburg Summit of FOCAC, there are 127 projects which have been built and put into operation in Africa, together with more than 120,000 new jobs which have been created.
The 19th National Congress of CPC Brings New Opportunities for Africa's Development
In the report Xi said China will actively promote the “One Belt One Road” international cooperation, strive to promote policy coordination, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people bonds. China will strengthen its support to developing countries, especially the least developed countries, and narrow the north-south gap. All those are undoubtedly a great gospel for Africa which is still relatively poor.
Poverty is the root cause of all problem of Africa, China is committed to helping African countries to develop their economies, increase employment, improve people's livelihood, achieve independent and sustainable development and finally eliminate the soil that breeds conflicts and chaos. We will actively promote the implementation of “One Belt One Road” in Africa, and continue to implement the outcome of the Johannesburg Summit of FOCAC, to make sure that Africa can get a ride onto the Express Train of China’s development and unremitting efforts shall be made to improve the living of African people.
The world is facing great instability and uncertainty. The polarization between the rich and the poor is becoming more and more serious, while major infectious diseases, climate change and other non-traditional security threats continue to spread. Those are common challenges that people of the world, including Chinese and African people, face today. China and Africa will forever remain good friends by developing together, good partners with equal cooperation and good brothers through thick and thin. China will put itself into Africa’s shoes, provide financial, technical and personnel support to Africa’s industrialization process. Not only by achieving poverty reduction and improving people's livelihood, but China will also help to improve Africa’s self-development capacity and enhance Africa’s own "hematopoietic" function.
China’s and Africa’s development strategies highly fit each other, and both sides have mutual advantages and meet mutual needs. The new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics proposed by the 19th National Congress of CPC will definitely become a new era of China-Africa relations. We believe, with the joint efforts of both sides, China-Africa cooperation will climb the peak and bear fruitful results for a greater welfare of the 2.4 billion people of China and Africa.
Zhang Yiming
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of