Chinese President Xi Jinping outlined three proposals for assisting in Africa’s integration and modernization which include supporting industrialization, agriculture modernization, and talent development.
“China has all along been a firm supporter, and walking side by side with Africa. Looking ahead, China will work with Africa to enhance the synergy of its development strategies and continue to support Africa in continuously elevating its international standing,” said Jinping during the China-Africa Leaders’ Dialogue.
For fast industrialization, China will better harness its resources for cooperation with Africa and the initiative of businesses to support Africa in growing its manufacturing sector and realizing industrialization and economic diversification.
Together with it, China will help Africa expand grain plantations, encourage Chinese companies to increase agricultural investment in Africa, and enhance cooperation with Africa on seed and other areas of agro-technology, to support Africa in transforming and upgrading its agricultural sector.
Also, China will launch the Plan for China-Africa Cooperation on Talent Development. China plans to train 500 principals and high-caliber teachers of vocational colleges every year and train 10,000 technical personnel with both Chinese language and vocational skills for Africa through training programs. China will invite 20,000 government officials and technicians from African countries to participate in workshops and seminars.
During the meeting, Jinping said, “Together with African friends, China has taken China-Africa relations to a new height and entered the new stage of jointly building a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future.”
He stressed that “China and Africa must work together to create a sound environment to promote a just and equitable international order, safeguard a peaceful and secure global environment, build an open and inclusive world economy, overcome estrangement between civilizations through exchanges, and realize countries’ respective development visions.”
The China-Africa Leaders’ Dialogue was co-chaired by President Xi Jinping and South African President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa in Johannesburg.
African leaders attending the meeting include Comorian President Azali Assoumani who is currently the Chairperson of the African Union (AU), Senegalese President Macky Sall who is also the African Co-chair of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), presidents of Zambia, Burundi, Djibouti, the Republic of the Congo and Namibia, and leaders of Chad, Libya, and Nigeria representing sub-regional organizations, and the representative of the AU Commission. The dialogue is the first in-person engagement between leaders of China and African countries since the pandemic.
President Xi Jinping highlighted that next year, China and Africa will host the FOCAC meeting in China, where the two sides may come together again and draw up new plans for development.
The African leaders thanked China for supporting African integration and assisting African countries in times of need and pointed out that China is Africa’s indispensable cooperation partner in its quest for modernization.
The African side supported the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative put forth by President Xi Jinping, and expressed readiness to work with China to continue advancing FOCAC’s institutional development.
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