Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, August 19th

: China-Africa joint construction of the "Belt and Road" cooperation has made new progress

  Xinhua News Agency reporters Zou Duowei and Dai Xiaohe

  One is the largest developing country, and the other is the continent with the largest concentration of developing countries. China and Africa are separated by thousands of miles but cooperate closely.

On the evening of the 18th, a meeting of coordinators for the implementation of the outcomes of the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation was held by video link.

The joint efforts of China and Africa to fully implement the outcomes of the meeting will surely further promote the high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road" between China and Africa to better benefit the Chinese and African people.

  In the past nine years since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed, African countries have actively participated.

By the end of 2021, 52 of the 53 African countries that have established diplomatic relations with China and the African Union Commission have signed cooperation documents with China to jointly build the "Belt and Road". Africa has become one of the most important directions for participating in the "Belt and Road" cooperation.

  The accelerated development of economic and trade cooperation has injected new impetus into the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" between China and Africa.

  On August 2, the first batch of fresh avocados officially exported from Africa to China were packed and shipped at the Sunrip factory in Limuru, Kenya.

After arriving at Shanghai Port by sea, the avocados filled with four containers will be sold to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other cities.

  In addition to fresh fruits, South African red wine, Senegalese peanuts, Ethiopian coffee... More and more African specialty products are entering the Chinese market.

  In recent years, despite the adverse effects of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, under the promotion of the "Belt and Road" initiative, China-Africa economic and trade cooperation has become increasingly close, and the scale of trade has steadily increased.

According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, China has maintained the status of Africa's largest trading partner for 13 consecutive years. In 2021, China-Africa trade volume will exceed the US$250 billion mark, a year-on-year increase of 35.3%.

  Wu Peng, Director-General of the African Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that both China and Africa have entered a new stage of development.

China promotes the construction of a new development pattern with the domestic cycle as the main body and the domestic and international dual cycles mutually reinforcing, which will bring more "China opportunities" to Africa's development.

The official implementation of the African Free Trade Area, the acceleration of African economic integration and regional economic integration, expands the development space for China-Africa cooperation.

  The deepening of infrastructure cooperation has made up for the shortcomings of Africa's economic and social development.

  Since the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, Chinese enterprises have used various funds to help African countries add and upgrade more than 10,000 kilometers of railways, nearly 100,000 kilometers of highways, nearly 1,000 bridges, nearly 100 ports, 66,000 kilometers of power transmission lines, The installed power capacity is 120 million kilowatts, the communication backbone network is 150,000 kilometers, and network services cover nearly 700 million user terminals.

  Since the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in November 2021, China and Africa have continued to advance cooperation in infrastructure construction.

The cooperation projects include the Cameroon Kribi-Lolabe Expressway which has been put into operation, the first phase of the Egyptian "Ramadan City" suburban railway, and the Nigerian Lekki deep-water port project under construction.

While meeting Africa's own development needs and plans, the "Belt and Road" cooperation project not only helps Africa enhance its own "blood-making" function, but also lays a solid foundation for the industrial upgrading and development of relevant countries.

  Liu Haifang, director of the Center for African Studies at Peking University, believes that deepening China-Africa cooperation not only requires the international community to enhance understanding and mutual trust, and jointly create a good environment for cooperation, but also requires Africa to speed up infrastructure construction and improve the level of economic and trade facilitation, so as to better participate in the global Industrial cooperation.

  Held two "Belt and Road" Energy Ministers' Meetings, the number of "Belt and Road" energy partnership members has reached 33, established an intergovernmental energy cooperation mechanism with more than 50 countries and regions, and carried out green cooperation with more than 100 countries and regions. Energy project cooperation... Riding on the east wind of the joint construction of the "Belt and Road", the high-quality cooperation between my country and relevant countries in the field of energy is injecting surging impetus into the economic development of Africa.

  Following the blueprint of the "Belt and Road", more and more energy companies in my country have also taken the step of "going out".

In June this year, the first photovoltaic power station in the Central African Republic, the Sakai photovoltaic power station, was connected to the grid to generate electricity.

This project, which was contracted by China Energy Construction Group Tianjin Electric Power Construction Co., Ltd., has greatly eased the difficulty of electricity supply in the capital Bangui and promoted the local economic and social development.

  In recent years, CNOOC has participated in the construction of the first large oil field in Uganda, the Three Gorges Corporation has designed and constructed the Kaleta Hydropower Station in Guinea, and Power China has undertaken the construction of the Adama 204MW wind power project in Ethiopia. power source.

  One road, one bridge, one commodity, one project... A series of achievements is the epitome of the solid progress made in the high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road".

More and more African people also have colorful dreams and a future full of opportunities due to China-Africa joint construction of the "Belt and Road" cooperation.

  The year 2022 marks the 66th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Africa, and is also the first year for the implementation of the outcomes of the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

  Wu Chuanhua, associate researcher at the China-Africa Research Institute, said that with the full implementation of the outcomes of the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, China-Africa friendly and cooperative relations have been deepened, new growth and new highlights of economic and trade cooperation between the two sides continue to emerge, people-to-people and cultural exchanges are flourishing, and peace and security are emerging. Field cooperation has expanded steadily.

"In the future, China-Africa cooperation will only be strengthened, not weakened, only expanded, not reduced, only upgraded, not downgraded."