China's new foreign minister embarked on a seven-day trip to Africa, continuing a 33-year diplomatic tradition

Source: Global Times

China's new Foreign Minister Qin Gang arrived in Ethiopia on 10 July to embark on a seven-day trip to Africa. This is the first visit to Africa by a Chinese foreign minister at the beginning of the year in 33 consecutive years. Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin announced on the 9th: In order to further deepen the China-Africa comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and promote China-Africa friendly cooperation, Foreign Minister Qin Gang visited Ethiopia, Gabon, Angola, Benin, Egypt and the headquarters of the African Union and the headquarters of the Arab League from January 9 to 16. Experts pointed out that the five African countries visited by Foreign Minister Qin Gang have their own characteristics, and cooperation with China also shows different characteristics. African media believe that the visit of China's new foreign minister will further consolidate the China-Africa strategic partnership based on equality, mutual benefit and long-term stability. Qin Gang's visit to Africa also further proves that no matter how the international situation evolves, China and Africa have always maintained the same direction of strengthening unity and cooperation in a wide range of fields. Experts said that they look forward to Foreign Minister Qin Gang's visit to inject new vitality into China-Africa cooperation in economy, trade, medical and health, and climate change. Tunisia's Zaobao said that in the new year, Africa's hands with China will be held tighter and tighter.

Each of the five countries has its own characteristics

According to a report by the Ethiopian News Agency on the 10th, Qin Gang arrived in Addis Ababa in the morning of the same day, met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy in the morning, met with Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demek in the afternoon and held bilateral talks, and signed a memorandum of understanding on political consultations between the foreign ministries of China and Ethiopia. On the morning of the 11th, Qin Gang will go to the AU headquarters to meet with the Chairperson of the AU Commission Faki and conduct the China-AU Strategic Dialogue, and then attend the completion ceremony of the China Aid African Union African CDC Headquarters (Phase I) project.

In January 1991, then Foreign Minister Qian Qichen paid an official goodwill visit to Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. Since then, Chinese foreign ministers have visited the African continent at the beginning of the year. Wang Wenbin said at a regular press conference on the 9th that Foreign Minister Qin Gang's visit to Africa is his first foreign visit after serving as China's foreign minister, and it is also a continuation of the fine tradition of the Chinese foreign minister insisting on visiting Africa for the first time every year over the past 33 years, reflecting China's great importance to the traditional friendship between China and Africa and the development of China-Africa relations.

Wang Wenbin said that during his visit to Africa, Foreign Minister Qin Gang will meet and hold talks with the leaders of the five visiting countries, the foreign ministers and the chairman of the African Union Commission, and exchange views on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of common concern. China will uphold the concept of sincerity and sincerity and the correct concept of righteousness and interests, carry forward the spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation, and work with Africa to promote the implementation of the outcomes of the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation to inject new momentum into the development of China-Africa comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. During his visit to Egypt, Foreign Minister Qin Gang will also meet with the Secretary-General of the Arab League. China is willing to work with the Arab world to build a China-Arab community with a shared future geared to the new era, safeguard the common interests of developing countries, and promote world and regional peace and stability.

On the African map, Ethiopia is located in the northeast, Gabon is located on the central west coast, Angola is located in the southwest, Benin is located in the west, and Egypt is a North African Arab country. The visit to the five countries covered a variety of geographical directions, including Arabic, English, French and Portuguese-speaking countries. From the perspective of national size, there are both large and small countries, which highlights the comprehensive and balanced development of China-Africa relations, and also reflects China's consistent adherence to the principle of equality of all countries, large and small.

Experts believe that the five African countries visited by Qin Gang this time have their own characteristics, and their cooperation with China also shows different characteristics. Liu Zhaoyi, director of the South African branch of the Institute of African Studies of Zhejiang Normal University, told the Global Times reporter on the 10th that Ethiopia is located in the center of the Horn of Africa, is the headquarters of the African Union, and is also a pilot demonstration country for China-Africa production capacity cooperation, which is of great significance to the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative. Angola, Gabon and Benin are extremely rich in natural resources and have great potential, yet Angola and Benin are classified as the world's least developed countries, and Gabon's economy is currently experiencing negative growth. These countries urgently need to get rid of the predatory exploitation of Western capital and turn to achieve national development and mutual economic benefit through technological upgrading and structural adjustment in future China-Africa cooperation. Egypt is the third largest economy in Africa and home to the headquarters of the Arab League, with a unique and important position in the Arab and Islamic worlds and within Africa. The friendship between China and Egypt has a long history, and China-Egypt relations are a banner of China-Argentina and China-Africa relations.

The friends are getting deeper and deeper

African media paid close attention to Qin Gang's visit. Ethiopian News Agency commented that the visit of China's new foreign minister will further consolidate the China-Africa strategic partnership based on equality, mutual benefit and long-term stability. Qin Gang's visit to Africa also further proves that no matter how the international situation evolves, global challenges continue to rise and external interference continues to occur, China and Africa have always maintained the same direction of strengthening unity and cooperation in a wide range of fields. The choice of Ethiopia as the first stop of the visit to Africa also shows the importance of Ethiopia to China's engagement with Africa. Ethiopian Radio Fana highlighted that Qin Gang will attend the completion ceremony of the Africa CDC headquarters (phase I) project. According to the report, the project, undertaken by China Civil Engineering Group Co., Ltd., will become the first CDC on the African continent with modern office and experimental conditions and complete facilities, and it is also one of the most advanced CDCs in the world. After the completion of the project, it will further improve Africa's disease prevention and surveillance capacity and epidemic emergency response speed, and enhance Africa's public health prevention and control system and capacity.

Egypt's "Izvestia" said that the African trip was Qin Gang's diplomatic "debut" after taking office, and it was also a continuation of China's tradition of choosing Africa for foreign ministers' New Year's visits since 1991, highlighting China's emphasis on Africa, so it has attracted special attention. Tunisia's "Zaobao" said that the closer relatives are, the deeper the friendship, the new diplomatic move of China's new foreign minister in the New Year highlights the particularity and importance of the relationship between Africa and China, in the new year, Africa and China will hold hands tighter and tighter, Africa will embrace China more.

Some media have interpreted Chinese Foreign Minister's trip to Africa from the perspective of "Sino-US competition". The Associated Press reported on the 9th that China has become a major trading partner on the African continent, as well as an investor in infrastructure and mining projects, the United States is competing with China for influence in Africa. Hong Kong's South China Morning Post quoted Roddilan, a scholar at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, as saying that Qin Gang would bring "new impetus" to China-Africa relations and that it was expected that China's influence in the region would continue to surpass that of the United States. He Wenping, a researcher at the West Asian and African Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview with the Global Times on the 10th that the West's policy on Africa has always been lip service, taking the United States as an example, unlike the Chinese system, the United States has only two paths to invest in Africa, either to call for and mobilize private enterprises to invest, or to apply to Congress, if these two roads have obstacles, then the financial assistance promised by the White House has become a "cannon".

Looking forward to a new chapter in China-Africa cooperation

The year 2023 marks an important juncture in the development of China-Africa relations, and the 10th anniversary of China's true and sincere policy concept and correct concept of righteousness and benefit. On March 25, 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a speech entitled "Always Be a Reliable Friend and Sincere Partner" at the Nyerere International Convention Center in Tanzania, in which he comprehensively expounded the policy proposition of China and Africa to seek peace and promote development in the new era in four words: "true", "real", "pro" and "sincere", and pointed out that China's efforts to develop relations with Africa will not weaken, but will only strengthen. In 2015, at the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the two sides agreed to upgrade the new China-Africa strategic partnership to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. In 2018, at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the two sides unanimously decided to build a closer China-Africa community with a shared future, and the China-Africa comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership entered a new era. In 2022, China put forward the "Concept for Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa" and took the lead in supporting the African Union's accession to the G20, which was welcomed by Africa.

Under the guidance of the policy concept of true affinity and sincerity, China-Africa cooperation has been continuously deepened, expanded, improved and upgraded. Since the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2000, Chinese enterprises have added or upgraded more than 10,000 kilometers of railways to Africa. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, China has provided 189 million doses of vaccines to 27 African countries, and according to the Ministry of Commerce, China has maintained its status as Africa's largest trading partner for 13 consecutive years. The opening of the second container terminal of the port of Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire, the completion of the Guyina Hydropower Station in Mali, the completion of the first phase of the Blue Line project of the Lagos Light Rail Project in Nigeria... At the end of 2022, China-Africa cooperation has made good news.

Foreign Minister Qin Gang's visit is worth looking forward to how to specifically promote China-Africa cooperation and write a new chapter. Liu Hongwu, dean of the Institute of African Studies of Zhejiang Normal University, told the Global Times reporter on the 10th that the economic development of African countries this year is entering a new stage, and China has a series of major projects to be implemented in the fields of economic and trade cooperation, industrial production capacity cooperation, digital economy, and the "Belt and Road" with Africa; China and Africa will also inject new vitality into cooperation in health care and climate change. In addition, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the "anti-globalization" in Europe and the United States have caused many troubles to Africa, such as the food crisis and inflation, resulting in a sharp increase in the external debt of many African countries and a deterioration in their financial situation. These issues are of particular concern to African countries and are also one of the directions of China-Africa cooperation this year.