Nigerian Ambassador to China Baba Ahmed Jeddah: China is setting an example for the world in multilateral cooperation, economy and trade

21st Century Business Herald Special Correspondent Hu Huiyin Guangzhou Report From December 5 to 6, the "2021 Congdu International Forum" was officially opened in Guangzhou. On the opening day, President Xi Jinping delivered a video speech in Beijing, and Vice President Wang Qishan delivered an opening speech at the scene. UN Secretary-General António Guterres, President of the World Leaders Alliance Danilo Turck, Guangdong Provincial Party Committee Secretary Li Xi, and Australia-China Friendship and Exchange Association President Zhou Zerong delivered speeches for the opening of the forum through online and offline means.

It is understood that this year has been the third time that Vice President Wang Qishan has personally attended the "Congdu Forum" in person. In his opening ceremony and speech, he said that at present, the world is at a new crossroads, and the international community needs to gather consensus, strengthen confidence and promote common development more than ever.

With the theme of "Multilateralism Version 2.0 – Global Cooperation in the Post-PANDEMIC Era", the forum discussed topics such as economic and social development and climate change, public health and global cooperation, and economic recovery in the post-PANDEMIC era. Keywords closely related to global cooperation, such as "multilateralism", "win-win cooperation", "global governance" and "the Belt and Road Initiative", have always been the focus of the themes of previous forums.

As the "record holder" of Africa's largest trading partner for 12 consecutive years, China's trade with Africa has continued to grow during the epidemic. In the first ten months of 2021, China-Africa trade totaled US$207.06 billion, up 37.5% year-on-year. Nigerian Ambassador to China Baba Ahmed Jeddah was interviewed by 21st Century Business Herald during the 2021 Congdu International Forum to talk about his views on topics such as the impact of the Belt and Road Initiative on Nigeria, trade and investment trends between Nigeria and China, and building multilateralism in the world today.

"China and Africa have always been a community of common destiny and a community of interests for win-win cooperation." At the 2018 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, President Xi Jinping described China-Africa relations this way. Over the years, China and Africa have also maintained very close ties, which can be seen in the results achieved in economic and trade cooperation between China and Africa.

In recent years, the economic and trade investment between China and Africa has been strong. It is understood that China has maintained its position as Africa's largest trading partner for 12 consecutive years.

Even affected by the spread of the epidemic, China-Africa trade volume continues to rise against the trend. According to data from the General Administration of Customs of China, from January to October 2021, the total trade volume between China and Africa reached US$207.06 billion, an increase of 37.5% year-on-year, and this figure is close to the us$208.7 billion of China-Africa trade in 2019.

The economic and trade data is still eye-catching, but Baba Ahmed Jeddah admitted to the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that economic and trade investment under the new crown epidemic has encountered many obstacles. "The pandemic has hampered people's participation in activities, and at the same time, a lot of money has not been released." He noted that the money that was meant to be invested in infrastructure construction in particular.

Baba Ahmed Jeddah told reporters that now he can only wait for the epidemic to pass and continue to look forward to the economic and trade between China and Africa to a higher level.

China and Africa are closely linked, taking Nigeria as an example, Nigeria is China's largest project contracting market, the largest export market, the second largest trading partner and the main investment destination in Africa. Speaking of the changes brought about by the economic and trade cooperation between Nigeria and China, Baba Ahmed Jeddah talked about it.

He told the 21st Century Business Herald that in the past, Nigeria was indeed an agricultural country, and with the government adopting a diversified development strategy including oil, agriculture and solid minerals, the Nigerian economy has also undergone many new changes. "Today, there are many Chinese who work in Nigeria for mining, gold mining and tea picking." he said.

Baba Ahmed Jeddah mentioned mechanized production. He believes that mechanized production should be applied both for agricultural production, mineral and petroleum production. During the conversation, he again stressed the partnership with China and said that Nigeria has made progress in many aspects, but deepening the cooperation with China is still important.

Under the epidemic situation, China and Africa are watching out for each other, and donating vaccines and providing financial assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises are the best examples.

On November 29, Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony of the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation by video. During the period, Xi Jinping introduced that China will provide another 1 billion doses of vaccines to the African side. Providing medical assistance to African countries reflects the "Healthy Silk Road" under the framework of the "Belt and Road", and China provides medical assistance to African countries that have joined the "Belt and Road". China has taken measures to help African countries fight the epidemic and pass on anti-epidemic medical experience and expertise, which has helped Africa overcome the economic impact of the epidemic to a certain extent.

In addition, China will provide $10 billion in credit lines to African financial institutions and encourage Chinese companies to invest no less than $10 billion in Africa over the next three years. The "Belt and Road" joint construction between China and Africa is gradually moving towards the stage of high-quality development.

"On the list of infrastructure projects in Africa, You can almost see China." Baba Ahmed Jeddah said that African countries trust China because China itself has developed smoothly and is now supporting more backward countries. He looked forward to seeing new developments in China-Africa cooperation in more fields.

Since the "Belt and Road" initiative was proposed, the enthusiasm of African countries to participate in the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" has been very high, and China-Africa cooperation has repeatedly made new breakthroughs.

Up to now, 52 of the 53 African countries that have established diplomatic relations with China and the AU Commission have signed cooperation documents with China on jointly building the "Belt and Road", and Africa has become one of the most important directions for "Belt and Road" cooperation. China and Africa have basically achieved full coverage of the "Belt and Road" cooperation.

It is worth mentioning that according to the report of the Ministry of Commerce of China, China-Africa digital economy cooperation has ushered in a rapid development opportunity since the epidemic. Chinese enterprises have actively shared their experience in using digital technology to support the "cloud anti-epidemic" and develop the "cloud economy" with African countries through multilateral and bilateral channels, and various digital cooperation platforms, online promotion meetings, live streaming and other new formats of cooperation have flourished, driving the export of African specialty products to China. For mineral-rich Nigeria, broadening the channels for e-commerce to carry goods is tantamount to adding a broad sales channel.

Through the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" cooperation, China and the countries and regions along the route have achieved common development. In fact, China-Africa relations have become close long before the Belt and Road Initiative.

After the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2000, China-Africa relations developed by leaps and bounds. Over the years, China-Africa cooperation has expanded from trade in resources to large-scale infrastructure cooperation and gradually escalated into political and strategic cooperation. In the 20 years since the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the volume of China-Africa trade and the stock of China's direct investment in Africa have increased by 20 times and 100 times respectively. Vice Minister of Commerce Ren Hongbin once said that the scale of China-Africa trade continues to expand, reaching $187 billion in 2020, new foreign trade formats and models such as cross-border e-commerce are booming; Chinese enterprises' direct investment in non-direct investment continues to grow, and a number of major infrastructure and people's livelihood projects such as railways and electricity implemented by Chinese and African enterprises have been completed and put into operation.

In addition, by practicing multilateralism, China has not only achieved its own rapid development, but also developed and expanded its own strength to safeguard world peace. Baba Ahmed Jeddah greatly appreciates China's determination to work hard to practice multilateralism. True multilateralism, he said, is the only way for each country to make progress and help each other.

In addition to the Belt and Road Initiative, Baba Ahmed Jeddah believes that the most typical example of China's practice of multilateralism is the important role it plays in the World Trade Organization. He said that China has provided a lot of assistance to Nigeria, such as helping African countries such as Nigeria to achieve industrialization. This has helped Africa to better face world markets on the basis of regional trade.

"True multilateralism is one that balances the interests of developed and developing countries," said Baba Ahmed Jeddah, a country that firmly believes in multilateralism and believes that multilateralism can help countries with low economic status and underdevelopment. China is a very active member, and to some extent it is like another form of multilateral institution and supports the construction of African countries.

Speaking about China's successful experience, Baba Ahmed Jeddah specifically referred to China's contribution to poverty reduction to the world.

In 2000, the United Nations made halving the proportion of people living in poverty at the top of the Millennium Development Goals. China was the first country to accomplish this task. In 2015, the United Nations launched a new vision calling for the eradication of extreme poverty globally by 2030. By 2020, China has achieved this goal 10 years ahead of schedule.

"So far, China has accomplished the daunting task of eradicating absolute poverty. Many countries around the world have not yet achieved this goal. Baba Ahmed Jeddah highly recognized China's development achievements, "China's development is too fast, even a decade ahead of the United Nations emphasis on poverty reduction and other development prospects." He believes that China is setting an example for other so-called developed countries.

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