Beijing, August 20 (Xinhua) — Economic Integration, Development and Linkage Results Sharing – Focusing on the Highlights of Economic, Trade and Development Cooperation at the 2024 Forum on China Africa Cooperation Summit
The 2024 Forum on China Africa Cooperation Summit will be held in Beijing from September 4th to 6th. What progress has been made in practical economic and trade cooperation between China and Africa? How was the implementation of the results of the previous forum meeting? On August 20th, the State Council Information Office held a press conference to introduce the relevant situation of China Africa economic, trade and development cooperation.
Assistant Minister of Commerce Tang Wenhong said that the “Ten Major Cooperation Plans”, “Eight Major Actions”, and “Nine Projects” between China and Africa have pointed out the direction and provided guidance for China Africa cooperation. Under the strategic guidance of the heads of state of China and Africa, various departments, regions, and enterprises of the Chinese side have continued to deepen communication and cooperation, promoting fruitful results in China Africa economic and trade cooperation.
Firstly, the scale of China Africa trade has repeatedly reached new highs. In 2023, the trade volume between China and Africa reached 282.1 billion US dollars, an increase of nearly 11% compared to 2021, setting a new historical peak for the second consecutive year, reflecting the strong resilience of China Africa trade. The year-on-year increase in trade volume between China and nearly half of African countries exceeded double digits. China attaches great importance to promoting the export of high-quality African specialty products to China, and the amount of imported agricultural products from Africa has achieved positive growth for seven consecutive years.
The second is the steady growth of investment cooperation between China and Africa. As of the end of 2023, China’s stock of direct investment in Africa exceeds 40 billion US dollars, making it one of the main sources of foreign investment in Africa. In the past three years, Chinese enterprises have created over 1.1 million job opportunities for the local area, and invested in the construction of economic and trade cooperation zones covering industries such as agriculture, processing and manufacturing, and commercial logistics, attracting more than a thousand enterprises to enter the zone and making important contributions to local tax revenue and export earnings.
Thirdly, significant achievements have been made in infrastructure cooperation between China and Africa. Africa is the second largest overseas contracted engineering market for China. Over the past decade, Chinese companies have signed contracts worth more than 700 billion US dollars and achieved a turnover of over 400 billion US dollars in Africa. They have implemented a number of landmark projects and “small but beautiful” projects in transportation, energy, electricity, housing, and people’s livelihoods, effectively driving local economic and social development.
The fourth is the accumulation of cooperation momentum in emerging fields between China and Africa. In the field of aerospace, China has launched meteorological or communication satellites for countries such as Algeria and Ethiopia; In the field of e-commerce, China and Africa have joined hands to expand cooperation on “Silk Road e-commerce” and held the Africa Good Goods Online Shopping Festival. Chinese e-commerce companies have deeply cultivated the Kenyan market, creating nearly 10000 job opportunities for local youth; In the field of healthcare, Chinese companies are investing in pharmaceuticals in countries such as Mali, Uganda, and Cameroon to enhance the accessibility of local medicines in Africa.
Initiate and implement 25 medical and health projects, including the headquarters of the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the African Union and the Bobo Hospital in Burkina Faso; Fully leverage the role of 24 agricultural technology demonstration centers, dispatch over 500 agricultural experts, and provide nearly 700 million yuan in emergency food aid to more than 30 countries; Assisting Africa in promoting trade connectivity and facilitating customs clearance… Liu Junfeng, Deputy Director General of the National Agency for International Development Cooperation, stated that all aid and development cooperation projects under the “Nine Projects” have been implemented, making positive contributions to supporting Africa’s economic and social development, and effectively promoting the development of China Africa relations. The fruits of cooperation are tangible and benefit the people of China and Africa.
Cooperation in the field of healthcare has always been a key focus of cooperation between China and Africa, “said Bai Bin, Director of the Regional Second Department of the National Agency for International Development Cooperation. China has long helped African countries improve their healthcare conditions, carried out major projects such as assisting the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention, provided vaccine assistance, dispatched medical teams and other public health cooperation, actively carried out patrols and free clinics, and used the Global Development and South South Cooperation Fund to implement the China Africa Cooperation Maternal and Child Health Project, playing an important role in improving the ability of African countries to provide public healthcare services.
As an important supporting event for the 2024 Forum on China Africa Cooperation Summit, the 8th China Africa Entrepreneurs Conference will be held in Beijing during the summit period. Shen Xiang, Director of the West Asia and Africa Department of the Ministry of Commerce, introduced that this year’s Entrepreneur Conference will highlight the theme of the summit “Joining Hands to Promote Modernization and Building a High level China Africa Community of Shared Future”, encourage communication and consensus building between the Chinese and African business communities, and promote the implementation of new measures for pragmatic cooperation between China and Africa; Create a friendly atmosphere of mutually beneficial cooperation between the Chinese and African business communities, and promote high-quality development of China Africa economic and trade cooperation. And two topics, “Promoting the Integration of Industrial and Supply Chains” and “Promoting the Development of Emerging Industries”, will be set up in the special seminar to share the successful experience of cooperation between Chinese and African entrepreneurs under the guidance of forum measures, and explore the cooperation opportunities brought by the new measures of the forum summit.
Tang Wenhong stated that China will thoroughly implement the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, uphold the policy concept of truth, closeness, sincerity, and the correct view of justice and interests towards Africa, expand institutional opening up to Africa, deepen cooperation in industrial and supply chains, better achieve economic integration, development linkage, and achievement sharing between China and Africa, and make greater contributions to consolidating the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Africa and building a high-level community with a shared future for China and Africa.