| Report by Secretary General Xu Jinghu of Chinese Follow-up Committee of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) At the 4th Senior Officials' Meeting of FOCAC |
| 2005-08-22 |
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Your Excellency Special Envoy Haile-Kiros Gessesse of the Government of Ethiopia to FOCAC, Delegates, Guests, Excellencies, Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today, the 4th Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is opened in Beijing. In the following two days, delegates from 46 African countries, guests from six important African regional organizations, and African diplomatic envoys to China will get together with the Chinese delegation for consultations and discussions on enhancing cooperation under the FOCAC framework, which fully testifies to the political will and resolve of both sides to strengthen their solidarity and cooperation. First of all, please allow me to extend, on behalf of the Chinese Follow-up Committee, a warm welcome to friends from afar.
The 4th SOM is of special commemorative significance as it coincides with the 5th anniversary of the establishment of FOCAC. We are pleased to see that, over the past 5 years, thanks to the close attention, keen interest and hard effort of both sides, FOCAC has continued to grow in strength and become a new bond of friendship between China and Africa.
Now, as entrusted by the Secretariat of the Chinese Follow-up Committee, I have the honor to report to the meeting on the implementation of the follow-up activities since the 2nd Ministerial Conference of FOCAC in Addis Ababa in December 2003.
Since the 2nd Ministerial Conference, both sides have attached high importance to and immediately started the implementation of the Addis Ababa Action Plan (2004-2006) follow-up activities. With active support from many African countries and concerted efforts of both the Chinese and African sides, all follow-up activities have progressed smoothly and some have produced gratifying results. This has given a strong boost to the development of friendly exchanges and comprehensive cooperative relations between the two sides. My report will cover the implementation of the follow-up activities in 6 areas:
I. China-Africa political exchanges and cooperation continued to strengthen.
First, the two sides had frequent exchanges of high-level visits. Since Premier Wen Jiabao attended the 2nd Ministerial Conference in Addis Ababa and visited Ethiopia in December 2003, President Hu Jintao, NPC Chairman Wu Bangguo, Vice President Zeng Qinghong, Vice Premier Huang Ju visited Africa respectively in 2004. It was the first time in the history of friendly exchanges between China and Africa that 4 high-level Chinese leaders visited Africa in a single year, which fully demonstrated the importance the Chinese leadership attaches to the development of China-Africa friendly relations under new circumstances. In the first half of 2005, Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan and General Cao Gangchuan, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, State Councilor and Defense Minister, visited Africa respectively. As an established practice of the Chinese Foreign Minister, Minister Li Zhaoxing visited 4 African countries early this year and attended, as President Hu Jintao's special envoy, the International Meeting to Review the Implementation of the Barbados Program of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States in Mauritius.
From 2004 to August 2005, the Chinese side had the honor of hosting 13 presidents, 2 vice presidents, 5 prime ministers, 9 speakers and 14 foreign ministers from Africa.
During those important visits, leaders of the two sides not only exchanged views extensively on bilateral relations and regional as well as international issues of shared interest, but also had consultations on the implementation of the Forum's follow-up activities. They both believed the Forum is playing an increasingly bigger role in collective dialogue and pragmatic cooperation between the two sides, which has given a new look to the wide-ranging China-Africa cooperation and opened new horizons in this regard. The consensus reached at the leadership level laid a solid political foundation for the development of the Forum and smooth implementation of the follow-up activities.
Other visits and exchanges between China and Africa, including the close contacts between government departments, frequent visits between legislative bodies, increasing exchanges between political parties and dynamic counterpart exchanges at local levels and among NGOs, have further increased mutual understanding and friendship between the Chinese and African peoples, deepened cooperation in various fields and enabled the smooth implementation of the follow-up activities.
Second, China and Africa have kept up close consultation, mutual support and coordination in international affairs and on major issues, which adds to the advantage of developing countries as a united group and helps them form synergy to safeguard their common interests. In April this year, President Hu Jintao attended the 2005 Asian-African Summit and the Commemoration of the Golden Jubilee of the 1955 Asian-African Conference, where he put forward his recommendation and proposition on the establishment of a new partnership between Asia and Africa, namely, Asia and Africa should become partners that respect and support each other in the political field, complement each other and foster mutual benefits and win-win results in the economic field, learn from each other's strong points in the cultural field, and have dialogue and coordination on the basis of equality and mutual trust in the security field. China-Africa cooperation is an important component of Asia-Africa cooperation. President Hu's foregoing proposition also serves as China's guiding principles in strengthening friendly cooperation with African countries.
China has always stood by its African friends on Africa-related international issues, upholding justice and speaking up for them. China has actively participated in Security Council discussions on African issues, listened carefully to African countries' views, expressed their concerns and supported their positions. During the elections of 2004 UN Human Rights Conference and the Sub-Committee on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, China gave support to African countries in various forms. In October 2004, China hosted the 1st China-Africa Human Rights Seminar, where the Chinese delegates were joined by their counterparts from 27 African countries in thorough discussions on human rights and broad consensus was reached. The seminar further increased mutual understanding between China and Africa in international affairs, particularly in the field of human rights, and promoted dialogue, exchanges and cooperation between the two sides on human rights issues. In June this year, Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan attended the 2nd South Summit and compared notes with leaders of some African countries on cementing South-South solidarity and cooperation and other major issues.
On anti-China draft resolutions at the UN Human Rights Conference, the Taiwan-related question at the World Health Assembly and elections in certain international organizations, the majority of African countries gave their firm support to China.
On the question of UN reform, China and African countries had extensive consultations and cooperation. China understands and supports Africa's political aspirations and the Ezulwini Consensus, firmly believes that priority should be given to increased representation of developing countries, especially African countries, in the Security Council, and hopes to see a greater role of Africa in the United Nations and its Security Council. African countries also understand and support China's position on this question.
Third, China supports the African Union (AU) and African sub-regional organizations' efforts to seek strength through unity and has strengthened cooperation with them. In 2004 and 2005, the Chinese Government provided two grants to the AU in support of its development and its efforts to lead the settlement of African issues. China sent a delegation upon invitation to the AU Summit. In early 2005, China appointed representatives to the AU and Southern African Development Community (SADC). Last week, Chairman Konare of the AU Commission paid a productive visit to China. The Chinese side has agreed to provide financial assistance to the construction of the AU commemorative statute and the related work is moving forward smoothly. China has also taken an active part in the activities of other sub-regional organizations in Africa.
Fourth, China and Africa have enhanced their cooperation in the field of peace and security. The Chinese side has taken an active part in the UN peace-keeping operations in Africa. Since 2004, China has sent 567 additional military personnel to the UN peace-keeping operations in Libya, Cote d'Ivoire, Burundi, Ethiopia and Eritrea. In March this year, China decided to join the UN peace-keeping operation in Sudan. In April this year, the rotation of 218 Chinese peace-keepers in the UN peace-keeping operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was completed smoothly. At present, China is involved in 7 UN peace-keeping operations in Africa, with a total of 843 military peace-keepers dispatched. The Chinese peace-keepers are widely appraised for their high-quality and integrity.
Fifth, the broad majority of African countries adhere to the one China policy and support China's grand cause of reunification. Upon the NPC's adoption of the Anti-Secession Law in March this year, African countries with diplomatic relations with China expressed their staunch support in various forms for China's righteous position on safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Chinese side expressed its high appreciation and heartfelt thanks for their efforts.
II. China-Africa economic cooperation and trade has progressed smoothly with a good momentum of development.
First, progress has been made in China's assistance to Africa. From 2004 to the end of May 2005, China provided financial assistance in 167 batches to 46 African countries, representing a greater scale of assistance than previous years and an increasing proportion of grants thereof. In terms of financial assistance, China has undertaken 42 complete plant projects in 29 African countries, 38 technological cooperation projects in 27 countries, and 42 projects in 26 countries whereby China provided general goods. In terms of concessional loans, China has undertaken 4 projects in 4 countries. Through the above assistance, China has helped to the build roads, schools, urban water-supply facilities, hospitals and other infrastructure and social welfare projects in African countries.
Second, breakthroughs have been made in Chinese investment in Africa. In 2004, Chinese direct investment in Africa was US$135 million, a record high in recent years. From 2004 to May 2005, 116 enterprises were established with Chinese investment, and the contracted investment was US$690 million. In the first 6 months of this year, direct investment from China to Africa reached US$ 124 million, making the accumulated Chinese investment to Africa US$750 million by June 2005. So far, China has signed bilateral agreements on investment facilitation and protection with 25 African countries.
Third, two-way trade has soared. In 2004, the China-Africa trade volume reached US$29.462 billion, up by 58.9% over the previous year. Trade mix has become more rational, and continuous improvement has been made in trade balance. As a result of the substantial increase of African exports to China, China had a US$1.83 billion trade deficit with Africa. By May 2005, China had signed trade agreements with 41 African countries and agreements on avoiding double taxation with 8 African countries. Entering this year, the situation has been very encouraging. From January to June, the trade volume rose by 42.57% over the same period of last year, reaching US$18.078 billion, out of which China's imports were US$9.62 billion, up by 39.41% year-on-year.
Fourth, China continued to expand its project contracting and labor service cooperation in Africa. From 2004 to June 2005, the accumulated contractual value of the Chinese contracted projects in Africa totaled US$10.06 billion, and the realized turnover US$6.3 billion. For the newly signed labor contracts, the contractual amount was US$3.36 billion and the realized turnover US$2.3 billion. There are broad prospects for cooperation in this area.
Fifth, smooth progress has been made in granting zero-tariff treatment to certain commodities exporting to China from 28 least developed African countries. Since 1 January 2005, 25 African countries have begun to enjoy zero-tariff treatment for 190 items exported to China. The other 3 countries are going through approval procedures. According to China's Customs statistics, in the first 6 months of this year, the value of the imported commodities enjoying zero-tariff treatment doubled. China's imports of these 190 items from the 25 beneficiary countries reached US$138 million, up by 70.2% year-on-year, with a total of RMB29.746 million tariffs exempted. To ensure the smooth implementation of the preferential treatment, the Chinese side also provided technical training for the issuing agencies of the certificate of origin and Customs officers of some of the beneficiary countries. The Chinese Customs also took the initiative to establish the mechanism of contact persons for origin-related issues with embassies of the beneficiary countries in China, so as to ensure faster and more convenient export of the related products to China.
Sixth, implementation of the agreements and programs of the China-Africa Business Conference have been smooth. At the conference, 21 cooperation agreements were signed with a total value of US$1 billion. The Chinese side has been active in pushing the enterprises concerned to carry out their agreements. The US$130 million contract between the China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation (CATIC) and National Power Corporation of Zimbabwe on upgrading Zimbabwean rural power grids has been implemented. Other projects are under active preparation. Orderly preparations for the launch of China-African Joint Business Council are going on.
III. Cooperation in human resource development with Africa has been intensified.
Cooperation in human resource development between China and Africa is a priority cooperation area identified at the 2nd Ministerial Conference. The Chinese Government attaches great importance to this and Premier Wen Jiabao has made specific instructions in this regard on several occasions. The Chinese side further increased its financial input and expanded the scale of training for human resource development cooperation with Africa. The Inter-ministerial Coordination Mechanism for Foreign Human Resource Development Cooperation was established. China more than doubled its training fund for Africa in 2004 as compared with 2003. China hosted over 100 training courses in various forms for 2,446 African trainees in such areas as agriculture, health, education, culture, customs and diplomacy, received 332 more overseas students from Africa and sent over 60 vocational training teachers to African countries to help train local talent, thus making positive contribution to the capacity-building of African countries. The Chinese side was also active in enhancing exchanges and cooperation with African capacity-building organizations. In June 2005, the Chinese Government sent an observer to the 14th Board of Directors' Meeting of the African Capacity Building Foundation. In 2005, the Chinese side plans to train over 3,800 people of various fields for African countries.
In agriculture, the Chinese side continued to send agricultural experts to African countries to promote agricultural technology and train agricultural technicians there. China also actively gave guidance to Chinese enterprises to encourage them to engage in agricultural cooperation in Africa and explore new ways and approaches in this regard.
In public health, the Chinese side signed or renewed 22 protocols with relevant African countries on dispatching Chinese medical teams, and replaced 810 team members out of the total 1,100-odd medical workers in Africa as part of the routine rotation. China continued its provision of free medicines, medical devices and medical materials to Africa and carried out effective cooperation with Africa in the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB etc.
In culture, "Meeting in Beijing" International Art Festival with Africa as the main guest continent was held successfully in Beijing in May 2004. Nine African artistic troupes and 8 African governmental cultural delegations took part in the event and held an African art exhibition in Beijing. Premier Wen Jiabao attended the closing ceremony of the Festival and spoke highly of the event. In July last year, Voyage of Chinese Culture in Africa was crowned with a success as it covered 16 African countries and regions. State Councilor Chen Zhili attended the opening ceremony in South Africa. Chinese delegations of songs, dance, acrobatics and martial arts toured 11 countries in Africa and staged a Chinese Art Festival in South Africa, Cameron and Ghana. Last year also saw increasingly active cultural exchanges between non-governmental organizations of the two sides. Since the beginning of 2004, non-governmental art troupes from China and Africa have staged over 10 performances and exhibitions for the other side.
In tourism, China signed MOUs on Approved Destination Status with 8 more African countries last year. Chinese citizens' group travel to these countries kicked off officially on 15 December 2004. Since then, the number of Chinese tourists to Africa has kept rising. In April this year, Uganda officially became an approved tourist destination for Chinese citizens, making it the 12th African country with such status. According to incomplete statistics, a total of 45,500 Chinese made South Africa or Egypt as the first leg of their tour in 2004. In the first five months of this year, a total of 26,200 Chinese tourists made one of the 12 approved destinations as the first stop.
In terms of people-to-people exchange, the first "China-Africa Youth Festival" was held successfully in China in August 2004. A total of 132 youth representatives from 44 African countries took part in the event. Both China and Africa attached great importance to it. Mr. Wang Zhaoguo, member of the CCCPC Political Bureau and Vice Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. Chinese President Hu Jintao and 23 African state leaders exchanged letters of congratulations and spoke highly of the Festival. During the festival, the China-Africa Forum on Youth Cooperation was held, which made available a channel between Chinese and African youth organizations for collective dialogue and cooperation, and issued Beijing Declaration for China-Africa Cooperation on Youth. In parallel, there were exchanges between China-Africa young entrepreneurs and a cultural exchange event for the youth on the two sides. All these activities have deepened the understanding and friendship between youth of China and Africa.
V. The two sides worked hard to explore new way of thinking, tap the potential and expand the scope for cooperation.
China-Africa environmental protection cooperation was officially launched. In February this year, the China-Africa Conference on Environmental Protection Cooperation was convened in Nairobi under the co-sponsorship of the China Environmental Protection Administration (CEPA), the Chinese Follow-up Committee of the Forum and the UNEP. Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan attended the meeting and put forward the initiatives of expanding exchange areas, advancing technical cooperation and further stepping up personnel training in the area of environmental protection, thus charting the course for China-Africa cooperation in this field. This was the first time for the Forum to cooperate with a UN agency and an experiment in the exploration of new cooperation areas and methods. At present, relevant environmental protection projects are being carried out in an orderly fashion.
In finance, the People's Bank of China has always been active in participating in various businesses of the African Development Bank. After taking stakes in African Development Bank and Eastern and Southern African Development Bank, the People's Bank of China officially became a shareholder of the West African Development Bank last October and set up a one-million-dollar fund for bilateral technical cooperation in the Bank. Currently, the two sides are making arrangements for the use of the fund.
The Chinese side launched the program of "Chinese Young Volunteers Serving Africa". This month, the first batch of 12 young volunteers went to Ethiopia. The Chinese side will continue to send young volunteers to African countries in a planned manner.
In light of rapidly growing trade between China and Africa, the two sides are in vigorous discussion on cooperation in the field of quality inspection and quarantine in a bid to promoting the smooth development of China-Africa trade.
VI. China and Africa worked together to gradually improve the follow-up mechanism of the Forum
Constant improvement was made to the Chinese Follow-up Committee of the Forum. In light of the need to continuously expand areas of cooperation, China gradually expanded the composition of the Committee step by step and convened many plenums of member units to plan, coordinate and advance the implementation of the follow-up actions by various Chinese departments.
The Secretariat of the Committee kept sound exchanges and cooperation with the African Diplomatic Corps in China. Since the 2nd Ministerial Conference, five rounds of consultations have been conducted between the two sides. The African Diplomatic Corps attached great importance to China-Africa cooperation under the framework of the Forum. In May this year, the African Diplomatic Corps submitted to the Chinese side its position paper on FOCAC after rounds of serious collective consultation, which put forward some constructive ideas for enhancing the institutional development of the Forum and promoting pragmatic cooperation. Hereby, I wish to express our thanks and appreciation to His Excellency, Ambassador Eleih-Elle Etian of Cameron, Head of the Diplomatic Corps, and the African Diplomatic Corps for their positive efforts and fruitful work.
I'd also like to take this opportunity to point out, in particular, that Ethiopia, as the co-chair of the Forum, has played an important and positive role and made contribution to the continuous growth of the Forum and the smooth implementation of the follow-up actions. It had many consultations with the Chinese side on the deepening of China-Africa cooperation and institutional development of the Forum and made great efforts to coordinate among African countries. The Chinese side wishes to express its appreciation and gratitude.
Delegates, Distinguished guests, Diplomatic envoys,
Gratifying results have been achieved in the follow-up actions of the Forum in the last two years. However, both the circumstances and the earnest expectations of the Chinese and African sides require the Forum to do more. The Addis Ababa Action Plan is a systematic project, which involves many areas, dozens of African countries and a lot of work to be done jointly by the two sides. The Chinese side will work closely with the vast number of African countries, take stock of experience, build on past successes and work hard to implement the Action Plan. In the interval between this SOM and next Ministerial Conference, the Chinese side will focus on the following aspects:
Continue to keep the sound momentum of high-level exchanges between China and Africa, intensify political exchanges, deepen political mutual trust, and enhance consultation, coordination and mutual support in international affairs;
Expand cooperation with the AU and sub-regional organizations in Africa;
Continue our participation in and actively provide support for UN and African peace-keeping operations in Africa;
Continue to provide economic assistance to African countries to the best of our capacity;
Implement in real earnest the policy of zero-tariff treatment for certain exports from the least developed countries to China and finalize the procedures of exchange of notes with three countries as soon as possible so that African products can enter into China faster and easier. The two sides should also give greater publicity to the policy so that more companies will know that they can benefit from it;
Expand areas for cooperation, explore the feasibility of incorporating quality inspection and quarantine cooperation into the framework of the Forum so as to promote the healthy development of China-Africa trade;
Adopt practical measures to encourage Chinese enterprises to make investment in Africa and participate in Africa's economic development;
Continue to beef up cooperation in human resource development with Africa to attain the goal of training 10,000 talent for African countries in three years as promised by Premier Wen Jiabao on behalf of the Chinese Government; and
Further discuss new areas and ways for China-Africa technical cooperation in agriculture.
All in all, we will try our utmost to implement the Action Plan so as to submit a satisfactory report to the next Ministerial Conference.
Delegates, Distinguished guests, Diplomatic envoys,
The fact that FOCAC has come a long way is the result of the great commitment and joint efforts of both sides. The Forum is a joint undertaking of ours. The progress and implementation of all follow-up actions call for greater efforts and closer cooperation of the two sides. We hope that delegates to this SOM will come up with good suggestions for the smooth implementation of the follow-up actions in their discussion so as to facilitate the comprehensive and earnest implementation of the Addis Ababa Action Plan and push forward the China-Africa friendship in a more comprehensive, systematic and pragmatic manner. It is our belief that as long as the two sides make joint and unremitting efforts, the Forum will surely become more successful, more fruitful and more dynamic.
Thank you.
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