The Sunday Mail
Beijing’s co-operation with Africa has been dominated by commercial deals instead of aid in the past, with $46 billion in direct Chinese investment and commercial loans having been signed since December 2015, Chinese officials said. “At present, Chinese aid to Africa makes up only a very little part of our co-operation. … Investment co-operation has been the main avenue of China-Africa co-operation,” Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday. Wang made the remarks to reporters on the sidelines of a meeting in Beijing on delivering what was agreed on at the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation.
More than 100 ministerial officials from China and Africa attended the meeting.
Only two weeks ago, Wang said, companies from China and Africa signed 64 agreements worth about $19 billion at a seminar in Beijing on China-Africa business co-operation.
The deals included direct investment and commercial loans worth $16, 7 billion; accounting for 85 percent of the total volume, Wang said.
In December, 2015; President Xi Jinping announced at the Johannesburg Summit in South Africa 10 major China-Africa co-operation plans for the next three years, backed by $60 billion, including interest free loans and lending with preferential terms.
After Friday’ s meeting, Vice-Foreign Minister Zhang Ming said at a news conference that China and Africa have signed at least 243 cooperation agreements of various kinds worth $50,7 billion since the summit.
“Among these agreements, Chinese companies’ direct investment and commercial loans to Africa surpass $46 billion, accounting for 91 percent of the total volume,” he said.
Xi sent a congratulatory letter to the meeting on Friday, saying that in the past six months, China and Africa have worked together to overcome the negative effects of the sluggish world economy and that they have made tangible achievements in implementing the agreements at the summit.
The current weak performance of the world economy brings opportunities and challenges for the economic development of China and Africa, Xi said.
Anil Sooklal, South Africa’s co-ordinator on implementing agreements of the summit, said now the relationship between China and Africa is not one between donor and receiver but one between partners and equals.
“We must understand that the coordinator’s meeting is taking place at a time when the global economy is facing severe crises, when access to finance for development is very difficult to come by … but China has come forward to push this co-operation.”
“What is encouraging also … is that … Africa wants to learn from China and partner with China,” he said Joint Statement of Co-ordinators’ Meeting of The Implementation of the Follow-up Actions of The Johannesburg Summit of The Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (FOCAC)
In order to jointly push forward the implementation of the follow-up actions of the Johannesburg Summit of the FOCAC, and provide new driving force for the implementation of the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation Johannesburg Action Plan (2016-2018), Co-ordinators from the People’s Republic of China, 51 African countries and the African Union Commission held a meeting of Co-ordinators in Beijing on 29 July 2016.
Both sides recalled the Johannesburg Summit of the FOCAC convened in South Africa from 4 to 5 December 2015, as well as post-Summit progress made in bilateral and multilateral cooperation to implement the Summit outcomes under the framework of the FOCAC.
Both sides went through intense and comprehensive discussions on topics of strengthening co-ordination, intensifying efforts on further implementation of follow-up actions of the Johannesburg Summit, and promoting China-Africa win-win co-operation for common development, and reached the following consensus:
1. Both sides highly acclaimed the great success of the Johannesburg Summit of FOCAC, fully appreciated its fruitful results and great significance, and spoke highly of the new concepts and new thinking of China’s policy to Africa and new measures for China-Africa co-operation articulated by President Xi Jinping, with the support of African Heads of State and Government, during the Johannesburg Summit. Both sides reiterated their commitments to working closely together to fully implement the outcomes of the Johannesburg Summit and develop the comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership featuring political equality and mutual trust, win-win economic co-operation, mutually enriching inter-civilisation exchanges, mutual assistance in security, and solidarity and coordination in international affairs.
2. Both sides highly acclaimed the rapid progress achieved on the follow-up actions of the Johannesburg Summit of the FOCAC, as well as the success of the Co-ordinators’ Meeting initialized by the co-chairs of the FOCAC, China and South Africa. The African side appreciated the fact that China has kept its promises and suited the action to the word. China fully appreciated the constant efforts the African side has made in the implementation work of the Johannesburg Summit.
Both sides were pleased to notice that, China and Africa have reached a great deal of co-operation agreements and made remarkable achievements after the Johannesburg Summit of FOCAC. Both sides reaffirmed their readiness to make joint efforts to promote industrialization and agricultural modernization in Africa through industry alignment, transfer of technology and human resources capacity development cooperation, focus on industry alignment and production capacity co-operation between China and Africa, and continue to push forward the implementation of the follow-up actions of the Ten Co-operation Plans and the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation Johannesburg Action Plan
(2016-2018) in a safe, orderly and efficient way.
3. Both sides enhanced the exchange of views on cooperation and agreed to adhere to the principles of sincerity, practical results, affinity and good faith and uphold the values of friendship, justice and shared interests, as well as the following FIVE co-operative concepts and make joint efforts for the implementation of the outcomes of the Johannesburg Summit of the FOCAC and promote China-Africa cooperation on development:
Adhering to the concept of common development. Both sides will combine the peaceful development of China with the self-sustainable development of Africa, jointly translate the advantages of Africa’s natural and human resources into development outcomes that will benefit the people, to support Africa to accelerate the development of industrialisation and diversification of economy, so as to realise win-win co-operation for common development between China and Africa.
Adhering to the concept of intensive development. Both sides agree to combine the construction of infrastructure projects with the development of industrial parks and special economic zones, so as to achieve sound interaction and mutual benefit between infrastructure projects and industrial development. Both sides will not only seek economic and social benefits of the projects themselves, but also focus on the self-sustainable development of Africa, and try our best to avoid risks of debt and financial burden for Africa. The African side highly appreciated the initiative made by China to kick off pioneering work in the demonstration countries and accumulate successful experience to guide comprehensive cooperation between China and Africa.
Adhering to the concept of green development. Both sides will focus on the protection of eco-environment and strengthen cooperation on eco-civilisation. Both sides will simultaneously promote economic co-operation and protection of local environment and wild lives according to laws, so as to ensure that China-Africa co-operation will never be pursued at the expense of local eco-system and long-term interests.
Adhering to the concept of safe development.
Both sides will enhance co-operation on peace and security and take comprehensive measures to tackle both the symptoms and root causes of the security problems, and improve the capability of maintaining peace and stability, counter-terrorism and law enforcement, thus creating and safeguarding lasting peaceful and secure environments for China-Africa cooperation on development and ensure the protection of personal safety and legal interests of investors.
3. Adhering to the concept of open development.
Supporting Africa to achieve peace, stability and development is in conformity with common interests of the world people and is the shared responsibility of the international community.
Both sides will uphold the concepts of openness, inclusiveness and win-win co-operation and welcome the international community to make more contributions to the realisation of lasting peace and sustainable development in Africa.
4. Both sides called on the international community to pay greater attention to and increase the investment for peace, security and development in Africa, and urged developed countries to honour their commitments to provide aid, transfer technologies and support capacity building of African countries and earnestly support African countries to tackle the current difficulties and challenges in peace, security and development affairs.
5. The African side acclaimed China’s commitment to developing the China-Africa comprehensive strategic and co-operative partnership, and expressed its gratitude for the efforts of relevant Chinese departments to successfully arrange this pragmatic and fruitful Co-ordinators’ Meeting.
