The Sunday Mail
Industrial capacity co-operation has become a catchphrase in China-Africa relations. Many African countries are eager to embrace the historic opportunity brought about by China’s economic transformation and to upgrade and become the first to host Chinese investors so as to add fuel to their own industrialisation strategies.
Lin Songtian
There are mutual benefits in China-Africa industrial capacity co-operation.
A rare historic opportunity has come for both sides to help them achieve common development; make the world more balanced, stable and prosperous and benefit the people of China and Africa and the globe.
This industrial capacity co-operation is the urgent need for Africa to realise independent and sustainable development.
Since the middle of the last century, African countries have achieved national independence — one after the another — and sought to promote economic development through international co-operation.
However, some countries outside the region are only willing to give the continent “fish” instead of “teaching it how to get fish”. Many African countries still suffer from hunger and under-development.
It is impossible to realise real political independence without economic independence. By giving others fish, one might help to address their immediate needs.
Only after “learning how to fish” can Africa set up its own industrial system, move out of the disadvantages of exporting raw materials at a low price and importing expensive finished products, thus realising independent and sustainable development and controlling its own destiny.
Industrial capacity co-operation is to “let African countries know how to fish”, helping them to get rid of two persistent bottleneck constraints hindering their development and industrialisation: insufficiency in infrastructure and talent.
The Chinese government encourages Chinese businesses to invest in Africa; transfer technologies and bring more job opportunities, foreign exchange, tax revenue and value-addition to primary products, thereby translating the continent’s abundant natural and human resources into real development results.
Industrial capacity co-operation between China and Africa is the natural trend of China’s economic transformation and upgrading.
After more than 30 years of reform and opening up, the Asian country has developed a large number of leading industries which provide advanced equipment and products to the world.
Numerous internationally-competitive businesses have also grown in China.
At the same time, due to labour cost increases, a large number of labour-intensive businesses in China need to move overseas for new development. China can and needs to bring its industrial capacity overseas, and help other countries to develop while achieving its own development.
Japan and the four Asian tigers all realised economic take-off after industrial capacity from overseas and later became source countries to export industrial capacity to overseas markets. Africa has a population of close to 1,1 billion, which might reach 1,4 billion in 2025.
The huge demographic dividend will make it one of the most ideal locations for investments from other parts of the world.
In order to realise industrialisation, Africa needs advantageous industrial capacity from countries such as China. The Chinese government is sincere in helping Africa to improve both “software” and “hardware” of investment, assisting it to “build a nest to attract phoenix” and creating a better environment for industrial capacity transfer.
It is fair to say that China and Africa have respective advantages and a mutual need for industrial capacity co-operation; helping Africa is helping China itself.
Industrial capacity co-operation between China and Africa is the objective to safeguard world peace and prosperity.
African refugees are flooding Europe. Poverty and under-development have always been the root causes of instability and unrest in Africa, and also provide the breeding ground for terrorism.
Stability and development on the continent bear or sustain world peace and prosperity.
By investing in Africa and developing industrial capacity co-operation, especially helping African countries to develop labour-intensive industries, Chinese businesses will create a large number of job opportunities for local people, improve their living and enable more African youths to go to factories, workshops, farms and office buildings to work.
In that case, no one would move to the jungles to join terrorist organisations or leave their homelands to become refugees.
Thus, Africa and the world will become more harmonious and stable. Chinese leaders attach great importance to developing a new type of partnership with Africa, featuring win-win co-operation. The essence of the policy of the new Chinese leadership is that China is willing to integrate its own development with the independent and sustainable development of African countries so as to realise common development and make the world more balanced, harmonious and prosperous.
Recently, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi summarised the four principles China adheres to in international industrial capacity co-operation, which are: “The right approach to righteousness and benefit; win-win co-operation; openness and inclusiveness and market-based operation.”
Wang Yi stressed that China’s industrial capacity co-operation with other countries will not come at the cost of environment and long-term interests of others.
China will never take the old colonial path of looting and damaging others’ resources.
So China says, so China does.
Ethiopia does not have rich oil and other energy resources, but China is committed to developing mutually-beneficial co-operation with it.
In Ethiopia, the first city ring road; the first express way; the first city light rail; the first electrified railway and the first wind power generation project are all financed by China, which has created good conditions for Ethiopia to attract foreign investment and the rapid growth of local industries and the economy.
The Oriental Industrial Park built with private investment from China is the first industrial park in Ethiopia, which has attracted a host of Chinese investors.
Among them, Huajian Group, a large shoe-maker with only 35 Chinese employees, offers more than 3 500 jobs for locals, and contributes over US$10 million to Ethiopia yearly.
China is Angola’s biggest crude oil exporting destination.
Over the past 10 years plus, through the model of package co-operation, China has helped Angola to build 39 hospitals; 78 schools; 14 power transformation stations; 20 water processing factories; 7 500 hectares of agricultural irrigation projects; and to upgrade 223 community networks, construct 1 343 kilometres railway; 892km of roads and 736km of power transmission and transformation lines.
This has made an important contribution to Angola’s national reconstruction and economic development.
The oil and mineral resources of African countries like Nigeria and Chad are monopolised by Western countries.
It’s only natural to wonder whether Western countries are also sincere in helping African countries to develop as China does for Angola and Ethiopia.
To help and support Africa in realising lasting peace and sustainable development is in line with the common interests of people across the world, and is a common responsibility of the international community.
It is a pity that some countries still take Africa as their zone of influence or “back garden”, and try to rely on their traditional influence and practical deterrence to rudely interfere in Africa’s internal and external affairs, including with whom African countries should make friends and develop co-operation.
They, themselves, are not sincere in aiding African development, and try by every means to disturb others’ co-operation with Africa.
While China-Africa industrial capacity co-operation is about to set sail, some Western media, far away from Africa and with their eyes closed, claim that China will transfer unwanted industrial capacity and pollution to Africa.
They appear to be concerned about the ecological environment of Africa, but are actually worried that Africa might advance its industrialisation and realise real political and economic independence.
China has accumulated successful experience in the process of its fast growth, and also paid a hard price for the environment.
As Africa’s sincere friend and reliable partner, we never want to see African countries follow the path of “pollution first and cleaning up later”.
The Chinese government will give full support to African countries to set up industrial access standards and environmental threshold and will regulate Chinese businesses to abide by the four principles of industrial capacity co-operation.
Jidong Development, a company from China, takes the lead in applying cement surplus heat power generation technology in its cement factory in South Africa, which can save 17 000 tonnes of industrial coal consumption yearly, thus setting the highest standard for the cement sector in South Africa.
This also serves as the model for industrial capacity co-operation, which welcomes international oversight.
Tides rise and fall.
Colonial time has ended and “zero-sum” mentality must be abandoned. Africa belongs to the African people, and is an important member of the international community.
Only by giving up bias and selfishness and taking off “coloured glasses” can the international partners work in concert, African countries get more benefits and the world become better and more harmonious.
Lin Songtian is the Secretary-General of the Chinese Follow-up Committee of the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation; Director-General of the African Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and China’s former Ambassador to Liberia and Malawi
