The 36th Summit of the African Union (36th AU Summit) opened at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. President Xi Jinping called the summit to extend warm congratulations to African countries and peoples.
President Xi Jinping said in his congratulatory message that China-Africa cooperation continues to develop in an all-round, multi-level and high-quality manner, and is at the forefront of international cooperation with Africa. I am willing to work with African leaders to further strengthen China-Africa friendly cooperation, close coordination and cooperation in international and regional affairs, and promote the building of a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future.
China-Africa friendship has a long history. Similar historical encounters and common historical missions have closely linked China and Africa. In the new era, President Xi Jinping put forward the concept of true and sincere policy towards Africa and the correct concept of righteousness and interests, leading China-Africa cooperation to an unprecedented new height. Under the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, China has successively announced the "Ten Major Cooperation Plans", "Eight Major Actions" and "Nine Projects" for Africa, and the two sides have achieved fruitful cooperation in infrastructure, public health, capacity building and other fields, demonstrating the high-level development of the China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era.
Connecting in all directions to promote the development of connectivity
"It was so easy to take the fast road! It used to take two hours to drive from the airport to the city, but it takes even longer to get stuck in traffic, but now it takes only 20 minutes. John Andigo, a taxi driver in Nairobi, Kenya's capital, said.
The expressway mentioned by Andigo, invested and developed and built by Chinese companies, was officially put into operation at the end of July last year. The expressway passes through the Nairobi Central Business District, National Stadium, Parliament Building and Presidential Palace, connecting Nairobi city with Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, with a total length of 27.1 kilometers, and the cumulative number of buses has exceeded 10 million in early February this year.
"To develop, you have to build a well-connected road transport network." Kungu Ndungu, director of the Kenya Highway Authority, said that the Nairobi Expressway has greatly alleviated road congestion and significantly reduced logistics and commuting costs, which has been well received locally.
The vehicle runs on the Nairobi Expressway, Kenya, which is invested in the development and construction of China Road and Bridge Engineering Co., Ltd.
At this AU summit, an important topic is "accelerating the construction of the African Continental Free Trade Area". However, for a long time, roads, bridges, ports, water supply, power supply and other infrastructure in some parts of Africa are still incomplete, which has become the main obstacle for African countries to strengthen economic and trade exchanges.
Driven by the Belt and Road Initiative, China-Africa cooperation in infrastructure construction has continuously achieved fruitful results. China has built more than 6,000 kilometers of railways, 6,000 kilometers of roads, nearly 20 ports and more than 80 large-scale power facilities in Africa.
At the end of January this year, the Lekki deep-water port in Nigeria, built by Chinese enterprises, held a port opening ceremony. West Africa's largest deep-water port is expected to create nearly $360 billion in overall economic benefits and 170,000 jobs. It is foreseeable that the commissioning of the project will open up a new situation for Nigeria's economic development.
Dennis Mwaba, an engineering expert at the University of Zambia, said that China's help has further improved Africa's interconnection and cross-border and regional infrastructure construction, greatly promoted Africa's trade and investment facilitation and economic integration, and brought industrialization development opportunities to African countries.
Walk the talk and build a healthy barrier
Senior engineer Eneto Fred has worked for the AU Commission for 14 years. He said the inauguration of CDC Africa headquarters was the "happiest memory" of his career.
On January 11 this year, in the southern suburbs of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, there was a lot of traffic near the headquarters of the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention built with Chinese assistance, the AU flag and the Chinese flag fluttered in the wind under the blue sky and white clouds, and a banner with the words "China-Africa friendship endures" was hung outside the headquarters building. On the same day, the completion ceremony of the headquarters (phase I) of the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Phase I) of China's aid to the African Union was held.
This flagship China-Africa cooperation project, which President Xi Jinping personally cares about and personally promotes, is the first Africa-wide CDC on the African continent with modern office and experimental conditions and complete facilities, which is of great significance to improving the speed of disease prevention, surveillance and emergency response to epidemics in Africa.
"After the project is put into use, it will better protect the lives and health of African people." Fred said that for more than a decade, he has personally witnessed the completion of the AU headquarters built with Chinese assistance and witnessed the completion of the Africa CDC headquarters project, "China's support for Africa is as always, and it will do what it says." ”
The newly completed Africa CDC Headquarters Building (Phase I).
Since 1963, when China sent its first medical team to Algeria, a North African country, China's medical team has traveled all over Africa. In 2014, when West African countries fought Ebola, China sent thousands of clinical and public health experts to fight the disease with the local people. After the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, China and Africa stood in solidarity with each other and fought side by side. In the most difficult time of China's fight against the epidemic, Africa sent valuable support; After the outbreak of the epidemic in Africa, China took the lead in assisting and worked with the African people to build a "health barrier" to guard life.
At the eighth ministerial meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, President Xi Jinping announced that he would provide another 1 billion doses of vaccines to Africa, and would assist African countries in implementing 10 medical and health projects, sending 1,500 medical teams and public health experts to Africa. China-Africa solidarity and anti-epidemic cooperation have continued to make new progress, and have continuously promoted the bridging of the "immunization gap".
In 2021, in his congratulatory message to the 34th AU Summit, President Xi Jinping pointed out that China and Africa have supported each other and overcome difficulties together in the fight against the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the successful holding of the Special Summit on China-Africa Solidarity Against the Epidemic, the continuous advancement of China-Africa cooperation in various fields, and the joint safeguarding of the interests of developing countries and international fairness and justice, showing the world the high level of China-Africa relations.
Health cooperation is an important part of building a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era, and has been successively included in the "Ten Major Cooperation Plans", "Eight Major Actions" and "Nine Major Projects" under the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. China continues to send medical team members and public health experts, assist in the construction of the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention, build dozens of specialized centers, and carry out counterpart cooperation mechanisms with many African countries. Monique Nsanzabaganwa, vice chairman of the AU Commission, said that Africa-China medical cooperation has made remarkable achievements and is a "vivid and vivid example" of China's walk the talk.
"From promising to take the lead in benefiting African countries after the development of the new crown vaccine is completed and put into use, to announcing the early start and successful completion of the Africa CDC headquarters project, facts have proved time and again that China keeps its promises." Kerry Onunayiju, Nigerian international relations expert and director of the Nigerian Center for China Studies, said.
Teach people to fish, and cultivate the foundation of development
"Because of China, we have the opportunity to go to school; Because of China, we have the opportunity to operate these agricultural equipment. Little Mudina, a student at the Yabasi Agricultural Vocational Technical High School, said.
The Yabasi Agricultural Vocational and Technical High School, built with Chinese assistance, is the first agricultural technical school in Cameroon. The school covers an area of 4 hectares, and there are 78 hectares of supporting teaching land, including administrative buildings, teaching buildings, multimedia centers, laboratories and breeding farms. China also donated teaching aids such as tractors, excavators, chick incubators and boilers to schools.
The school teaches courses such as crop cultivation, livestock raising, agricultural product processing, and maintenance of agricultural machinery and equipment, and has trained about 500 agricultural technicians for Cameroon since its opening in 2017. "Secondary schools teach agricultural technology, train professionals, and solve the problem of employment. I sincerely hope that Kazakh-Chinese educational cooperation will become better and better. Jean Mirabo Eba, regional governor of the Sub-region region, said.
Students take a practical tractor class at the Yabasi Agricultural Vocational and Technical High School in Cameroon, which was built with Chinese assistance.
Studies have shown that by 2030, about 40% of the world's youth population will come from Africa, and young people will become an important force for peace, stability and social development in Africa. African countries are eager to strengthen talent training, increase employment and release the demographic dividend.
At the eighth ministerial meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, President Xi Jinping announced the inclusion of "capacity building" in the "nine projects". China will provide assistance to Africa to build or upgrade 10 new schools and invite 10,000 high-end African talents to participate in training and seminars. China will also continue to cooperate with African countries to set up "Luban workshops" to encourage non-Chinese enterprises to provide no less than 800,000 local jobs.
Since the first Luban workshop in Africa landed in Djibouti in March 2019, China has built more than ten Luban workshops in Africa, which has promoted the development and innovation of vocational education in Africa and has been widely praised. Kenyan international affairs scholar Cavince Adehir said that China-Africa capacity building cooperation combines China's advantages with Africa's human resource endowments, promotes the improvement of Africa's education level, and cultivates a large number of talents needed locally.
Nowadays, more and more African young people come to China to study and further study, bringing back innovative practices such as e-commerce poverty alleviation, digital economy, and green development back to their hometowns.
"China's economic development has not only brought opportunities to developing countries, but also confidence." Charles, an international student from Congo (Brazzaville), said. Charles, who is currently studying at Shanxi University, is determined to return to China after completing his studies to build his hometown, "hoping that my compatriots can all have a better life."
Although the distance is far away, the years have moved closer and closer. Looking forward to the future, under the joint leadership and promotion of Chinese and African leaders, the construction of a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era will surely have a bright future, injecting vigorous force into promoting South-South cooperation and enhancing the common well-being of mankind.
Planning: Ni Siyi Ying Qiang
Executive Producer: Xue Ying, Wu Zhiqiang
Coordinator: Xie Peng, Han Mo, Yan Junyan
Written by: Kim Jong
Reporters: Wang Ping, Zhou Chuyun, Li Hualing, Luo Yu, Shi Yu, Guo Jun, Peng Lijun
Editors: Chen Shan, Zhang Yuan, Diao Ze, Cheng Dayu
Photo: Han Xu, Dong Jianghui, Copso
Vision: Onion Pictorial
Produced by the International Department of Xinhua News Agency
Produced by Xinhua News Agency's International Communication Integration Platform
Source: Xinhua News Agency