Interview: “China-Africa Trade, Investments Have Risen 20 Times, 100 Times”

How do you assess the growth in cooperation between China and Africa since 1960?

Counting from the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Egypt in 1956, this year marks the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Africa. Over the past 65 years, China and Africa have forged an unbreakable fraternity in the struggle against imperialism and colonialism. They have embarked on the path of distinctive cooperation for development and revitalization.

They have written a wonderful chapter on mutual assistance in complex circumstances and have set a shining example for building a new type of international relations. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the restauration of China’s lawful seat in the United Nations. China never forgot and will never forget the support from Africa at that crucial time. Since the independence of the African continent, political leaders from China and Africa have carefully cultivated and enriched cooperation.

At the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) that was recently held in Dakar, Senegal, Chinese President XI Jinping via video link delivered a keynote speech entitled "Uphold the Tradition of Always Standing Together and Jointly Build a China-Africa Community with a Shared Future in the New Era."

In the speech, he put forward for the very first time the expression, "The spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation." Here, I would like to underline this spirit based on "the principle of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith, and the principle of pursuing the greater good and shared interests." It adequately describes 65 years of mutual solidarity and strive by China and Africa. It also constitutes the source of China-Africa relations and friendly cooperation.

China-Cameroon cooperation is an important part of China-Africa cooperation. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Cameroon. China has always firmly supported Cameroon in the choice of its independent development path that corresponds to its national and historical conditions.

Both countries have maintained traditional friendship and have built firm political trust. They have both opposed foreign interference in internal affairs for a long time, safeguarding international fairness and justice, multilateralism as well as the interests of developing countries. In future, China-Cameroon cooperation will definitely bear more practical fruits for peoples of both countries, thereby facilitating the development of Cameroon and enhancing the well-being of the Cameroonian population.

How significant has Africa been as a partner to China over the years?

China is the largest developing country in the world and Africa is the continent with the largest number of developing countries. Shared past experiences and similar aims and goals have brought China and Africa closer together. China and Africa will always be a community of shared future. Developing solidarity and cooperation with Africa has been the cornerstone of China’s foreign policy, as well as a firm and longstanding strategy.

China-Africa friendship has not been an overnight achievement, nor has it been gifted from over. Rather, it has been fostered throughout the years when China and Africa supported and stood by each other in trying times. This high-level political interaction plays a leading role in China-Africa relations. Having just assumed his presidency in early 2013, President XI Jinping chose Africa as his first destination for state visit. So far, he has paid four state visits to Africa, leaving his footprints in all corners of the continent.

Similarly, Cameroon’s President Paul BIYA has visited China seven times, which confirms again that China is not only a good, old and true friend, but also a good brother and partner to Cameroon and Africa.

Over the past years, especially since the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, President XI Jinping has put forward the principles of China’s Africa policy such as sincerity, real results, amity and good faith as well as the pursuit of good and shared interests, charting the course and providing the fundamental guidelines for China’s cooperation with Africa.

The consecutive successes of both the Johannesburg Summit in 2015 and the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2018, pushed China-Africa cooperation to a new and unprecedented level. Namely, from the China-Africa "New Strategic Partnership" to "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership", until President XI Jinping and African leaders unanimously announced in 2018 that the two sides would work to build an even stronger China-Africa community of shared future. They will also seek to advance cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, thus establishing a new milestone in China-Africa relations, leading China-Africa relations to the optimum in this historical era.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, President XI Jinping has had 17 telephone calls with African Heads of State. Last May, China and Africa jointly launched the Initiative on Partnership for Africa’s Development. Last September, during the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, President XI Jinping put forward the Global Development Initiative which has been warmly received by many African countries, including Cameroon.

The most recent FOCAC summit held in Senegal last month. What difference has FOCAC made in cooperation between China and Africa so far?

FOCAC is now 21 years old after its foundation in 2000. Under the guidance and promotion of the forum, China-Africa cooperation in general presents the following three characteristics:

Firstly, political mutual trust continues to deepen. China-Africa relations have completed a three-level jump from "New partnership" to "New strategic partnership" and finally, to "Comprehensive strategic partnership." Both China and Africa agreed to join hands to build a closer China-Africa community with a shared future. President XI Jinping has visited Africa four times. It is worth mentioning that the tradition of the Chinese Foreign Minister visiting Africa every year has been maintained for 31 years without interruption. Such a diplomatic vision of "visiting relatives and friends" has laid a solid political foundation for the development of China-Africa relations.

Secondly, practical cooperation has yielded fruitful results. Compared to the year 2000, the trade volume and investment stock between China and Africa have increased respectively by 20 times and 100 times. For 12 consecutive years now, China has been Africa's largest trading partner. Today, 46 African countries and the African Union Commission have signed cooperation agreements on the Belt and Road Initiative. With the implementation of the "Ten Major Cooperation Plans" in 2015 and the "Eight Major Initiatives" in 2018, a large number of infrastructure projects that aim to improve people’s lives have been launched or completed.

For example, in Cameroon, the second phase of the Kribi Deep Sea Port and the new edifice of the National Assembly are two glaring examples. Globally speaking, Africa has become an important part of China's ongoing process to further enlarge, strengthen its domestic and international economic links as well as to build a new development pattern.

Thirdly, people-to-people and cultural exchanges are rich and diverse. Important exchange mechanisms and platforms such as China-Africa Youth Festival, Think Tank Forum, Media Cooperation Forum, Joint Exchange Programme, News Exchange Center, and China-Africa Research Institute, have been established one after another. China has established multiple cultural centers in Africa. It has dispatched 21,000 medical team members to 48 African countries, treating about 220 million African patients.

The mutual understanding between the peoples of both sides is deepening with traditional friendship passed on from generation to generation. Despite the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, China has organised several activities in Cameroon such as Think Tank exchange, Chinese Bridge Competition and "China and me" Essay Competition, thus reinforcing ties between peoples of both countries.

During the Dakar, Senegal FOCAC Summit, there were calls by African leaders for more equilibrium in trade with China. How does China intend to facilitate more African imports and investments?

First of all, there are more than 50 countries in Africa. Their resource endowments, economic development levels, industrial structure and foreign trade policies are not entirely the same. This means that at a certain stage, some countries may have trade surpluses with China, while other countries may have deficits.

However, from an overall and long-term perspective, since 2000, China’s imports from Africa have been worth 1.2 trillion U.S. dollars; with exports to the continent standing at 1.27 trillion U.S. dollars. Therefore, on the whole, China-Africa trade is quite balanced.

In addition, China has taken four specific measures to increase imports from Africa. Firstly, by broadening the channels for African products to enter the Chinese market. For example, the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo has been set up specifically for African countries. Several distribution, trade and process centers for African non-resource products have been established in Changsha, Hunan Province.

An exhibition and sales center for African products has been inaugurated in Yiwu, Zhejiang Province. Another aim is to promote high-quality products from Af...