Chinese and African leaders attending the Second Ministerial
Conference of the
Forum on China-Africa Cooperation yesterday expressed their
common desire to further strengthen economic and trade
relations.
"China has taken further measures to increase imports from
African countries, and the China-Africa two-way trade is increasing
by more than 20 percent (annually),'' said Premier Wen Jiabao
during the conference's opening ceremony. He is paying a three-day
official visit to Ethiopia.
Wen said the two sides should strengthen high-level exchanges
through regular leadership meetings and dialogue within the
framework of the forum.
China will continue to urge the international community to help
African countries settle conflicts, participate in UN peacekeeping
operations in Africa and provide assistance to the peacekeeping
efforts by African regional organizations.
Wen said Africa and China share a common interest in the further
democratization of international relations. This should be achieved
through more intense consultations, Wen added.
At the same time, China supports Africa's position on
multilateralism.
Wen called on developing countries to meet the challenges of
globalization together.
Developed countries, for their part, should take up their
obligations to developing countries by eliminating trade barriers
and farm subsides.
Under the framework of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum, China
will increase its aid to Africa, further open its domestic market
and grant duty-free market access to some commodities from the
least developed countries in Africa, Wen said.
For example, China will increase its investment to the Africa
Human Resources Development Fund by 33 percent and provide
professional training to 10,000 African personnel in the next three
years, Wen said.
To accelerate tourism co-operation with Africa, China will grant
eight more African countries, including Kenya and Zimbabwe,
approved destination status for outbound Chinese tourists, Wen
disclosed.
Expressing appreciation towards China's support for Africa's
development, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said the Chinese
Government should be commended for taking significant steps to
cancel debt of 31 African countries.
"China's exemplary endeavor to ease African countries' debt
problem is indeed a true expression of solidarity and commitment,''
he said.
Delegates from China and 44 African countries attended
yesterday's meeting, including national leaders from 13 African
countries and ministers in charge of foreign affairs and
international trade.
The following is the full text of the speech by Chinese
Premier Wen Jiabao at the opening ceremony of the second
ministerial conference of China-Africa Cooperation Forum Monday in
Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia:
Your Excellency Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, Your Excellencies
the Heads of State and Government, Your Excellency Chairman Alpha
Oumar Konare of the AU Commission, Your Excellencies the Heads of
National Delegations, Ministers and Ambassadors, Ladies and
Gentlemen,?????
It is my great pleasure to come to Addis Ababa and join our
African friends at the Second Ministerial Conference of the Forum
on China-Africa Cooperation in identifying the way forward for
closer China-Africa cooperation.
As Premier of China, the Co-Chair country of this Conference, I
would like to extend, on behalf of the Chinese Government, my
warmest welcome to all delegates, and express my heartfelt thanks
to the Ethiopian Government for its commendable efforts and
thoughtful arrangements which have made this meeting possible.
Three years ago, Chinese and African ministers gathered in
Beijing and jointly launched the China-Africa Cooperation Forum,
ushering in a new era of cooperation between China and African
nations. The past three years since then have witnessed steady
growth and remarkable achievements of cooperation between China and
Africa on all fronts. Our friendship and mutual trust are stronger
and deeper. Our cooperation on international affairs has been
constructive and fruitful. Our trade and economic cooperation are
growing with a more robust momentum.
China on its part has taken further measures to increase its
imports from African countries, and China-Africa two-way trade is
increasing by more than 20 percent. A total of 117 new
China-invested enterprises are up and running in Africa, and our
bilateral cooperation in energy development and hi-tech industries
is getting off the ground. Our cooperation in human resources
development is on the upswing. China has sponsored a variety of
training programs and trained nearly 7,000 African personnel of a
wide range of professions. The Chinese Government has fulfilled
ahead of schedule its debt exemption commitments and canceled 31
African countries' debts totaling 10.5 billion RMB yuan. The Forum
follow-up activities have been implemented as a strong support to
the brotherly African nations and people in their endeavors to
overcome difficulties and realize national rejuvenation and
development, testifying to the broad prospect and strong vitality
of China-Africa friendship and cooperation under the new historical
conditions.
Despite the complex and profound changes of the present day
world, peace and development remain the themes of our time. The
people of the world share the aspiration for peace, stability and
development. But hegemonism is raising its ugly head. Regional
conflicts are going on unabated. And non-traditional security
problems, such as terrorism, communicable diseases, environmental
degradation and aggravating poverty, have become more prominent.
Economic globalization while bringing development opportunities to
all nations, is also posing unprecedented challenges to the
developing world. The widening gap between the North and the South
and between the rich and the poor makes it all the more difficult
for developing nations, particularly African nations, to maintain
economic security and achieve sustainable development.
The rapid advancement of science and technology and the ever
deepening of economic globalization are bringing nations closer and
making countries more inter-connected. Given such situation, how to
build a world where all nations shall be winners and where
dialogue, cooperation and mutual benefit shall prevail is an
important, urgent and practical issue before us all. It is all too
clear that world peace and development cannot possibly be sustained
if the North-South divide grows wider and developing nations go
poorer. The international community must therefore devote more
care, pay more attention and give more understanding towards
African nations, who are faced with special daunting challenges in
the process of economic globalization The international community
must provide more and tangible support and assistance to the
African governments and people, and must help African nations to
develop on their own.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends,
China is the largest developing country, and Africa the largest
developing continent. China-Africa cooperation is part and parcel
of South-South cooperation. It is an unshakable policy of the new
Chinese Government to strengthen solidarity and cooperation with
African countries and other developing nations. We are ready to
work with African countries to further develop and strengthen our
new-type partnership featuring long-term stability, equality and
mutual benefit and all-round cooperation, so as to make it a
paragon of South-South cooperation. It is our belief that
China-Africa cooperation should be substantiated with more actions,
and should contribute to the economic and social development of
African countries and their efforts to improve people's
livelihood.
Under such a principle, I would like to make the following
proposals on how to further promote China-Africa relations:
1. Promote further development of China-Africa traditional
friendship through mutual support. The Chinese Government is ready
to further expand high-level exchanges between the two sides, and
provide new impetus to China-Africa friendly relations and the
mechanism of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum through regular
leadership meetings and dialogues. China supports African countries
in establishing the African Union, implementing the program of New
Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), and promoting the
process of regional and sub-regional integration and cooperation.
The Chinese Government will continue to urge the international
community, the United Nations in particular, to take all necessary
measures to support African countries and regional organizations in
their efforts to settle conflicts. China will continue to
participate in UN peacekeeping operations in Africa, and provide
assistance to the peacekeeping efforts of African regional
organizations.
2. Promote democratization of international relations through
intensified consultation. China and Africa share the same goal and
interests in promoting democratization of international relations.
We support Africa's position on multilateralism. The international
community should intensify consultation, work to maintain a
diversified world, and facilitate mutual exchanges and emulation
among different civilizations and modes of development. We stand
for the observance of the purposes and principles of the Charter of
the United Nations, and the safeguarding of the authority of the UN
and its leading role in handling major international issues.As a
permanent member of the UN Security Council, China will always
stand side by side with developing countries in Africa and other
parts of the world, and support their legitimate requests and
reasonable propositions.
3. Jointly meet the challenges of globalization through
coordination of positions. We maintain that the developing
countries should benefit from the process of globalization, instead
of being marginalized. The international community should take
steps to help them overcome difficulties, and enhance their
capacity for self-improvement, environmental protection and
sustainable development. The developed countries have the
obligation and responsibility to further open their markets,
eliminate trade barriers and farm subsidies, and earnestly fulfill
their commitments to developing countries through more aid and debt
relief. The Chinese Government supports and will actively
participate in the North-South dialogue. China is ready to
coordinate its positions with African countries in the process of
international economic rules formulation and multilateral trade
negotiations, with a view to safeguarding the legitimate rights and
interests of developing countries.
4. Turn a new page in China-Africa friendly relations through
enhanced cooperation. To facilitate pragmatic cooperation between
China and Africa, the Chinese Government will gradually increase
its aid to Africa under the framework of the China-Africa
Cooperation Forum. We will further open our market, and grant
duty-free market access for some of the commodities from the least
developed countries in Africa. We will increase our capital
investment to the African Human Resources Development Fund by 33
percent, and provide professional training of various kinds to
10,000 African personnel in the next three years. We will encourage
and facilitate mutually beneficial cooperation between Chinese and
African enterprises, and encourage Chinese enterprises to invest in
Africa. To step up our tourism cooperation with Africa, China will
grant eight more African countries the status of approved
destination for outbound Chinese tourists. We propose to stage a
"China-Africa Youth Festival" and grand Africa-themed cultural
exchange activities in China next year. We will vigorously
cooperate with African countries in the prevention and treatment of
HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases, in
the prevention of natural disasters and in environmental
protection.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends,
Thanks to more than 20 years of reform and opening-up, China has
made a historic breakthrough in economic development and aggregate
national strength. The Chinese people as a whole are living a
better life. But China has a huge population of 1.3 billion, and
even though its total economic volume is among the largest in the
world, in per capita terms, it is still quite low. China is a big
country with uneven development and relatively low overall
productivity level. We still have a long way to go before the goal
of modernization is accomplished. Against such background,the
assistance China can provide to African countries is limited.
However, we do offer our assistance with the deepest sincerity and
without any political conditions. It is our firm belief that
support and help between countries are mutual, and we will never
forget the invaluable support China has received from African
countries over the years in our endeavors to safeguard China's
sovereignty and territorial integrity. We are ready to continue
such sincere cooperation as always.
????
Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends,
China and Africa together have more than one-third of the
world's population. The friendly cooperation between us in the
promotion of development and reinvigoration of our own nations is
in itself a significant contribution to world peace and
development. Let us, under the new circumstances, join hands to
build on our past achievements and bring China-Africa friendly
cooperation to a new high.
I wish the Ministerial Conference a complete success.
Thank you.
(China Daily and Xinhua News Agency, December 15, 2003)