Chinese President Xi Jinping continued his bilateral meetings with African leaders who came to Beijing to attend the summit meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) on September 3.
In the morning he met with Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) Moussa Faki Mahamat.
Xi Jinping pointed out that the African Union (AU) is a banner for Africa to seek strength through unity and an important platform for conducting international cooperation. In recent years, China and the AU have continued to deepen political mutual trust and maintained close coordination and cooperation in international and regional affairs. He added that he is glad to see that the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, aided by China for the AU, have been established and put into operation, contributing to African people’s health and well-being.
Xi stressed that the current transformations of the world unseen in a century are unfolding at a faster pace. The Global South, including China and Africa, is growing stronger, injecting stability and positive energy into world peace and development. Africa is an important pole in the world and an important priority in China’s diplomacy. China is ready to enhance political exchanges with Africa, deepen strategic mutual trust, strengthen practical cooperation, share development experience and promote common development. He called on the two sides to strengthen solidarity and coordination, firmly support each other, advocate an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalisation, and jointly safeguard international fairness and justice and the common interests of developing countries.
Moussa Faki Mahamat said that for more than half a century, China has been firmly supporting Africa’s struggle against colonialism, imperialism and racial discrimination, providing valuable assistance to African countries in various fields such as infrastructure, health, energy, industry and security, and taking the lead in supporting the AU’s accession to the G20, which the African side highly appreciates and sincerely thanks. For this reason, the African side firmly pursues the one-China policy and firmly supports China in safeguarding its core interests. The African side expects China to continue playing a key leading role and make greater contributions to helping Africa achieve modernisation as well as for world peace and development.
Xi Jinping also met with Malawi President President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera.
He said that China is ready to strengthen cooperation with Malawi in agriculture, telecommunications, infrastructure and other fields, and to encourage Chinese enterprises to invest in Malawi. The two sides should make good use of the Confucius Institute at the University of Malawi to promote cultural exchanges and forge closer bonds between their peoples.
Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera said that every time he comes to China, it feels like coming home. He thanked the Chinese side for the warm and friendly reception. Malawi regards China as its most sincere friend. Under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has lifted hundreds of millions of Chinese people out of poverty. The Belt and Road Initiative and other major initiatives put forward by President Xi Jinping have provided important opportunities for all countries to achieve common development and prosperity. Malawi also supports strengthening FOCAC’s institutional development and looks forward to taking this summit as an opportunity to further promote Belt and Road cooperation, strengthen regional connectivity and deepen friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation between Malawi and China.
Meeting with President of Chad Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, Xi Jinping said that China has been Chad’s largest trading partner and investment partner for many years in a row, and bilateral practical cooperation has improved the well-being of the two peoples. China is ready to work with Chad to uphold the spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation, strengthen the synergy of development strategies, and push for new progress in China-Chad relations.
Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno said that under the wise leadership of President Xi Jinping, China has witnessed rapid development and increasingly rising international standing. Chad admires China’s development achievements, appreciates a series of major ideas and initiatives put forward by President Xi Jinping, and is happy to see China’s continued development and growth. He believes that China’s sustained development will bring more opportunities for the development of Chad, Africa and the world, which is crucial to leading the transformations of the world unseen in a century.
The Chinese President also met with Kenyan President William Ruto.
Xi Jinping pointed out that China and Kenya have a time-honoured friendship that developed in their struggles for national liberation and deepened on their journey toward national rejuvenation.
Ruto said that the two sides have successfully implemented major infrastructure construction cooperation projects such as the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, which has strongly promoted Kenya’s economic and social development and become a new symbol for Kenya-China friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation.
In the afternoon, Xi Jinping met with Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who was also paying a state visit to China.
Xi Jinping pointed out that Nigeria is a major and highly influential African country with a large population and great development potential. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations more than half a century ago, China and Nigeria have always respected each other and treated each other as equals and forged a path of self-strength through unity and win-win cooperation. The two countries need to seek greater synergy of development strategies, form a new pattern of practical cooperation featuring complementarity and mutual benefit, promote the interconnected and integrated development of infrastructure, energy and minerals with industries, and create new growth areas for cooperation such as the digital economy and new energy.
He added that FOCAC is not only an effective mechanism for promoting practical cooperation between China and Africa, but also a banner for South-South cooperation. China is ready to take the FOCAC Beijing Summit as an opportunity to review the historical experience of China-Africa friendship, promote the building of a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future, and inject new momentum into the development of China-Africa relations in the new era.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu said that Nigeria hopes to become China’s largest trade and investment partner in Africa and welcomes more Chinese companies to invest in the country, expanding mutually beneficial cooperation in agriculture, manufacturing, minerals, energy, infrastructure and other fields, helping Nigeria and West Africa advance modernisation efforts and effectively eradicating poverty. He thanked the Chinese side for providing important training opportunities for Nigerian youth and expressed willingness to deepen people-to-people and cultural exchanges with the Chinese side.
The two countries issued a Joint Statement between the People’s Republic of China and the Federal Republic of Nigeria on Establishing a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and Building a High-level China-Nigeria Community with a Shared Future. The full text may be read here.
President Xi also met in the afternoon with Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa. We already reported the details of that meeting here.
In the evening, President Xi met with Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani.
Xi Jinping stressed that China and Mauritania are good friends and close brothers who trust and help each other. China is ready to work with Mauritania to promote Belt and Road cooperation, deepen cooperation in fisheries, infrastructure and other fields, leverage the role of the agricultural and animal husbandry technology demonstration centre in aiding Mauritania and build China-Mauritania relations into a model of friendly exchanges and win-win cooperation between countries.
The Chinese leader appreciated Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani’s active contributions, as rotating chair of the African Union, to the preparations for the FOCAC Beijing Summit, and expressed China’s willingness to work closely with Mauritania to take the summit as an opportunity to pool the strength of the Chinese and African people, build a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future, increase the voice and representation of the Global South countries in global governance, and jointly uphold international fairness and justice.
Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani said, the friendship between Mauritania and China is solid and profound, and the Mauritanian side is deeply proud of its friendly relations with China. He thanked China for its valuable support for Mauritania’s economic and social development, including the country’s fight against COVID-19.
He added that at present, the world is facing many risks and challenges, and deepening cooperation with China is the hope of Mauritania and other countries to achieve sustainable development. Mauritania and China hold highly identical positions on Palestine and other major issues. Both sides firmly oppose interference in other countries’ internal affairs, call for respect for the independence of all countries, and reject violent extremism.
