Beijing, June 24th (Xinhua) – The Second Senior Officials Meeting of the Horn of Africa Peace Conference was held in Beijing on June 24th. Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Chen Xiaodong, Special Envoy for Horn of Africa Affairs Xue Bing, representatives from the Ministry of Commerce and the National Agency for International Development Cooperation, as well as senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda and other countries and their embassies in China attended the meeting.
Chen Xiaodong stated in his opening speech that over the past two years, China has been working together with the countries of the Horn of Africa to focus on the three major goals of “security, development, and governance”, and taking practical actions to promote regional peace and development. China is willing to continue to be a peer partner on the path of peace with the countries of the Horn of Africa, guided by global security initiatives, and building a “great security” pattern with the concept of great peace, striving to be a pioneer in jointly maintaining peace; Continue to be a peer partner on the development path, take the implementation of global development initiatives as the guide, work together to build the “the Belt and Road” with high quality, and strive to be a pioneer of common development; Continue to be a peer partner on the path of justice, actively participate in the reform and construction of the global governance system, uphold international fairness and justice and the common interests of developing countries, and strive to be the pioneer in upholding justice. China is willing to work together with other countries in the Horn of Africa to build it into a corner of peace, development, and prosperity, and jointly build a high-level community with a shared future between China and Africa.
All parties present actively evaluated China’s aforementioned proposals, appreciated the positive results achieved in implementing the concept, and thanked China for its contributions to this end. All parties had in-depth and candid exchanges on the implementation of the next “plan” and the promotion of regional peace and development. They unanimously agreed to focus on five aspects: peace, security, development, cooperation, and governance, and promote more new achievements in bilateral cooperation, better benefiting the people of both sides.
It is reported that the “Concept of Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa” is a “Chinese plan” proposed by the Chinese side in early 2022 to support the peace and development process in the Horn of Africa, aiming to support regional countries in unity and self-improvement, and strive to achieve long-term stability, development and prosperity in the region. With the joint efforts of both parties, the implementation of the concept has progressed smoothly, effectively assisting regional countries in coordinating responses to the three major challenges of security, development, and governance, and has been widely welcomed by regional countries.