The 36th Summit of the African Union (36th AU Summit) opened at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, on the 18th. President Xi Jinping sent a telegram to the summit to extend warm congratulations to African countries and people.
In his congratulatory message, President Xi Jinping said that China-Africa cooperation continues to develop in an all-round, multi-level and high-quality manner, and is at the forefront of international cooperation with Africa. I am willing to work with leaders of African countries to further strengthen China-Africa friendly cooperation, closely coordinate and cooperate in international and regional affairs, and promote the building of a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future.
China-Africa friendship has a long history. Similar historical experiences and common historical missions have closely linked China and Africa. Entering the new era, President Xi Jinping has put forward the policy concept of sincerity, affinity and sincerity towards Africa and the correct concept of righteousness and benefit, leading China-Africa cooperation to an unprecedented new height. Under the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, China has successively announced the “Ten Cooperation Plans”, “Eight Actions” and “Nine Projects” for Africa. High-level development of non-destiny community.
Leading in all directions, promoting the development of China Unicom
“It’s so convenient to take the expressway! It used to take 2 hours to drive from the airport to the city, and it took longer in traffic jams. Now it only takes 20 minutes.” John Andigo, a taxi driver in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, said.
The expressway mentioned by Andigo was invested, developed and constructed by Chinese enterprises, and it was officially put into operation at the end of July last year. The expressway passes through the central business district of Nairobi, the National Stadium, the Parliament Building, and the Presidential Palace, and connects downtown Nairobi with the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
“In order to develop, it is necessary to build a road transportation network extending in all directions.” Kungu Ndungu, director of the Kenya Highway Authority, said that the Nairobi Expressway has greatly relieved road congestion, significantly reduced logistics and public commuting costs, and has been well received locally. .
Vehicles are driving on the Nairobi expressway in Kenya. This expressway is invested, developed, constructed and operated by China Road and Bridge Engineering Co., Ltd.
At this AU summit, an important topic is “accelerating the construction of the African Continental Free Trade Area”. However, for a long time, the roads, bridges, ports, water supply, power supply and other infrastructure in some parts of Africa are still incomplete, which has become the main obstacle for African countries to strengthen economic and trade exchanges.
Driven by the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” initiative, China-Africa cooperation in the field of infrastructure construction has continuously achieved fruitful results. China has built more than 6,000 kilometers of railways, 6,000 kilometers of roads, nearly 20 ports, and more than 80 large-scale power facilities in Africa.
At the end of January this year, the Lekki Deepwater Port in Nigeria, which was built by a Chinese company, held a port opening ceremony. The largest deep-water port in West Africa is expected to create an overall economic benefit of nearly US$360 billion and 170,000 jobs. It is foreseeable that the operation of the project will open up a new situation for Nigeria’s economic development.
Dennis Mwaba, an engineering expert at the University of Zambia, said that China’s help has further improved Africa’s interconnection, cross-border and cross-regional infrastructure construction, greatly promoted Africa’s trade and investment facilitation and economic integration, and brought industrialization to African countries. opportunity.
Do what you say and build a healthy barrier
Senior engineer Enetou Fred has worked for the AU Commission for 14 years. He said that the completion of the headquarters of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was the “happiest memory” in his career.
On January 11 this year, in the southern suburbs of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, there was a lot of traffic near the headquarters of the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention built by China. The flag of the African Union and the Chinese flag fluttered in the wind under the blue sky and white clouds. Long live” banners hung outside the headquarters building. On the same day, the completion ceremony of the China-aided Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention Headquarters (Phase I) project of the African Union was held.
This flagship project of China-Africa cooperation, which President Xi Jinping personally cares about and personally promotes, is the first all-Africa CDC with modern office and experimental conditions and complete facilities on the African continent. Significant.
“After the project is put into use, it will better protect the lives and health of African people.” Fred said that for more than ten years, he has personally witnessed the completion of the African Union headquarters built with Chinese aid, and also witnessed the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters project Completed, “China’s support for Africa is as always, and it will do what it says.”
The newly completed Africa CDC Headquarters Building (Phase I).
Since China sent its first medical team to the North African country Algeria in 1963, the Chinese medical team to Africa has traveled all over the vast African land. When countries in West Africa fought against Ebola in 2014, China sent thousands of clinical and public health experts to fight against the disease together with the local people. After the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, China and Africa supported each other and fought side by side. At the most difficult moment of China’s fight against the epidemic, Africa sent valuable support; after the outbreak of the epidemic in Africa, China took the lead in rushing to help, and together with the African people, they built a “health barrier” to guard their lives.
At the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, President Xi Jinping announced that he would provide another 1 billion doses of vaccines to Africa, assist African countries in the implementation of 10 medical and health projects, and send 1,500 medical team members and public health professionals to Africa. expert. China-Africa solidarity and anti-epidemic cooperation have continued to make new progress, and continue to promote the bridging of the “immunization gap”.
In 2021, in his congratulatory message to the 34th AU Summit, President Xi Jinping pointed out that China and Africa have supported each other and overcome difficulties together in the fight against the new crown pneumonia epidemic. The cooperation continues to advance, and the two sides jointly safeguard the interests of developing countries and international fairness and justice, demonstrating the high level of China-Africa relations to the world.
Health cooperation is an important part of building a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era. It has been included in the “Ten Cooperation Plans”, “Eight Actions” and “Nine Projects” under the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. China continues to send medical teams and public health experts, assists in the construction of the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention, builds dozens of specialized centers, and develops counterpart cooperation mechanisms with many African countries. Monique Nsanzabaganwa, vice-chairman of the African Union Commission, said that Africa-China medical cooperation has achieved remarkable results, which is a “vivid and vivid example” of China’s words and deeds.
“From the promise that the development of the new crown vaccine will be the first to benefit African countries after it is put into use, to the announcement that the construction of the headquarters project of the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention will start ahead of schedule and be successfully completed. Facts have proved time and time again that China keeps its promise.” Nigerian international relations expert and director of the Nigerian China Research Center Charles Onunaiju said.
Teaching people how to fish, cultivating the foundation of development
“Because of China, we have the opportunity to go to school; because of China, we have the opportunity to operate these agricultural machinery and equipment.” said Mudina Xiao, a student of Yabasi Agricultural Vocational and Technical Middle School.
The Yabasi Agricultural Vocational and Technical Middle School aided by China is the first agricultural technical school in Cameroon. The school covers an area of 4 hectares, and another 78 hectares of supporting teaching land, administrative buildings, teaching buildings, multimedia centers, laboratories and farms are all available. The Chinese side also donated teaching equipment such as tractors, excavators, chick incubators and boilers to the school.
The school mainly teaches courses such as crop planting, livestock breeding, agricultural product processing, and agricultural machinery maintenance. Since its opening in 2017, it has trained about 500 agricultural technicians for Cameroon. “The middle school imparts agricultural technology and trains professionals, which solves the employment problem. I sincerely hope that Cameroon-China educational cooperation will be better and better.” said Jean Mirabeau Eba, head of the Abbasi region.
In the Cameroon Yabasi Agricultural Vocational and Technical Secondary School aided by China, students are taking a tractor practical class.
Studies have shown that by 2030, about 40% of the world‘s youth population will be from Africa, and youth will become an important force in promoting peace, stability and social development in Africa. African countries are eager to strengthen personnel training, increase employment opportunities, and release demographic dividends.
At the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, President Xi Jinping announced that “capacity building” will be included in the “Nine Projects”. China will aid Africa in building or upgrading 10 schools and invite 10,000 high-end African talents to participate in training and seminars. China will continue to cooperate with African countries to set up “Luban workshops” and encourage Chinese companies in Africa to provide no less than 800,000 local jobs.
Since the first Luban workshop in Africa landed in Djibouti in March 2019, China has built more than ten Luban workshops in Africa, which has promoted the development and innovation of vocational education in Africa and has been widely praised. Cavens Adhir, a Kenyan scholar on international issues, said that China-Africa capacity-building cooperation combines China’s advantages with Africa’s human resource endowment, promotes the improvement of Africa’s education level, and cultivates a large number of talents that are needed locally.
Today, more and more young Africans come to China to study and study, and bring back innovative practices such as e-commerce poverty alleviation, digital economy, and green development to their hometowns.
“China’s economic development has not only brought opportunities to developing countries, but also confidence.” Charles, an international student from Congo (Brazzaville), said. Charles is currently studying at Shanxi University. He is determined to return to China to build his hometown after completing his studies, “I hope my compatriots can live a better life.”
Although the distance is far and the heart is close, the love becomes closer as time goes by. Looking forward to the future, under the joint leadership and promotion of Chinese and African leaders, the construction of a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era will surely have a bright future, injecting vigorous power into promoting South-South cooperation and enhancing the common well-being of mankind.
Planning: Ni Siyi Yingqiang
Producer: Xue Ying Wu Zhiqiang
Coordinator: Xie Peng, Han Mo, Yan Junyan
Chief Writer: Kim Jong
Reporter: Wang Ping, Zhou Chuyun, Li Hualing, Luo Yushi, Yu Guo Jun, Peng Lijun
Editor: Chen Shan, Zhang Yuan, Diao Ze, Cheng Dayu
Photography: Han Xu, Dong Jianghui, Copso
Visual: Onion Visual
Produced by the International Department of Xinhua News Agency
Produced by Xinhua News Agency International Communication Integration Platform