President Xi calls for higher level of trade and economic cooperation between both sides
President Xi Jinping said on Thursday he expects China and Africa to actively explore new paths and foster new growth drivers for a higher level of Sino-African economic and trade cooperation.
Xi made the remark in a congratulatory letter to the first China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, which opened on Thursday in Changsha, Hunan province.
In his letter, Xi said that China and Africa are good friends, good partners and good brothers with a shared destiny and vision.
Over the years, responding to the trend of the times and the development needs of each side, China and Africa have conducted practical cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, bringing remarkable results that have benefited people of both sides, Xi said.
Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua called for building an even stronger China-Africa community with a shared future, saying at the opening ceremony that China is willing to work with African countries to grab opportunities brought about by the Belt and Road Initiative and strengthen cooperation in fields, including trade, investment and infrastructure.
"China owes its progress to reform and opening-up, and will continue to advance along this path," Hu said, adding that China is willing to uphold the open world economy and the multilateral trading system, and will further widen market access, optimize business environment, and pursue trade and investment liberalization.
He said more efforts are needed to promote China-Africa trade cooperation to a new level, increase import of high-quality African goods and services, vigorously expand investment cooperation and boost infrastructure connectivity.
Vice-Minister of Commerce Qian Keming said the expo, announced at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in September, will provide a platform for strengthening economic and trade cooperation between the two sides.
China has been the largest trading partner of Africa for 10 consecutive years. Last year, trade volume between China and Africa amounted to $204.2 billion, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
By the end of 2018, more than 3,700 Chinese companies were operating in Africa, with a combined direct investment of more than $46 billion.
"China has been working on strengthening ties with Africa. The Chinese government and Chinese companies have not wasted time in coming to the support of Africa, "said Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
The Chinese government is supporting Africa's infrastructure such as interconnectivity, energy and manufacturing, Museveni said.
Electrical and mechanical products, and high technology goods account for about 56 percent of China's exports to Africa. China's imports from Africa rose 32 percent year-on-year in 2018, with imports of agricultural products rising 22 percent.
"When you look at Africa, China, (their) trade figures, you get strong rays of hope. This forum should, among other things, enable us to turn these rays of hope into strong reality," Museveni said.
Yonov Frederick Agah, deputy director-general of the World Trade Organization, shared similar views on China-Africa relations.
"China offers Africa the opportunity to speed up its economic development based on the infrastructure that China develops, and to utilize the technologies, employment and market opportunities that China creates. This renews the partnership between China and Africa," Agah said.
"I am confident that the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo will further strengthen strategic partnership, produce tangible results and support interaction between private sectors in both regions," Agah said.
Lin Yifu, dean of the Institute of New Structural Economics at Peking University, said China and African countries have a shared future and China's economic development experience will offer African countries references for achieving industrialization and modernization.
Editor:Cherie
