BEIJING: Chinese Premier Li Qiang Friday called on China and Africa to work more closely to elevate economic and trade cooperation to higher levels.
China-Africa economic and trade cooperation serves as a cornerstone of bilateral collaboration and provides strong support for jointly advancing modernization, Li said in a speech at the opening ceremony of the eighth Conference of Chinese and African Entrepreneurs held in Beijing.
Li noted that the two sides should further strengthen market alignment. China, he said, will expand market access unilaterally to the least developed countries and widen the green channel for African agricultural exports to China.
China also stands ready to work with Africa to enhance mutual opening up and speed up the process of negotiating and signing of framework agreements on jointly developing economic partnerships, he added.
Li called for further promotion of industrial integration, expressing China’s willingness to deepen cooperation with Africa in industrial chains to jointly safeguard the stability and smooth functioning of global industrial and supply chains.
He also stressed the need to further enhance the innovation-driven momentum, noting that China is ready to strengthen cooperation with Africa in areas such as the digital economy, artificial intelligence and new energy, thereby fostering new drivers of development and exploring more new growth points.
About 1,000 people were present at the opening ceremony of the conference, including African leaders attending the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and business representatives from both sides.
Chinese FM says 2024 FOCAC summit achieves ‘complete success’
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated on Thursday that the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) has achieved complete success.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, made the remarks when meeting the press together with Senegalese Foreign Minister Yacine Fall and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Congo Jean-Claude Gakosso.
Elaborating on the major outcomes of the summit, Wang said bilateral relations between China and all African countries having diplomatic ties with China have been elevated to the level of strategic relations.
The overall characterization of China-Africa relations has been elevated to an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era, Wang said.
Six major proposals to advance China-Africa modernization have been put forward, Wang said.
A blueprint for action to advance China-Africa cooperation has been mapped out, he said, adding that Chinese President Xi Jinping has announced 10 partnership actions for modernization to deepen China-Africa cooperation for the next three years.
During the summit, China and Africa agreed to firmly support each other on issues concerning their respective core interests and practice true multilateralism. They also agreed to oppose prejudice, address historical injustice and advance modernization to make it benefit all people, Wang said.
The summit has demonstrated the Global South’s firm confidence in solidarity and cooperation, Wang noted.
According to Fall and Gakosso, Africa-China cooperation has changed the fate of Africa and will surely go down in history as a model of international cooperation.
Africa is ready to work with China in implementing the outcomes of the summit and the consensus between the two sides, deepening Africa-China friendship, and realizing shared development and common prosperity, they said.
