The Angolan President’s visit to China was an “upgrade” and “warm-up”

　　China News Service, Beijing, March 16 (Reporter Xing Chong) In the spring, China’s head of state diplomacy has embarked on a new journey.

Immediately after the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference concluded, Angolan President Lourenco visited China, and China-Angolan relations ushered in a qualitative upgrade.

This is the second African head of state that China has received since the Spring Festival this year.

From the perspective of international relations scholars, in the great year of China-Africa cooperation, this is also a warm-up for China’s important diplomatic forum this autumn, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

　　At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Angolan President Lourenco paid a state visit to China from March 14 to 17.

On the afternoon of March 15, Xi Jinping held talks with Lourenco at the Great Hall of the People.

The two heads of state announced that they would upgrade China-Angola relations to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

"China-Angola cooperation belongs to South-South cooperation and cooperation between developing countries. It is mutual help between good friends, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation." Xi Jinping pointed out during the talks that in the face of the current world of intertwined events, the two sides must continue to maintain traditional friendship , strengthen unity and cooperation, firmly support each other, and achieve common development.

　　Angola is an important country in southern Africa. It has been baptized by war and began the reconstruction process after the civil war ended in 2002.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Angola in 1983, relations between the two countries have developed smoothly, and a strategic partnership was established in 2010.

Angola is China's second largest trading partner in Africa and one of the first African countries to join the Belt and Road Initiative.

As Xi Jinping said, China-Angola relations have withstood the test of international vicissitudes and have truly benefited the two peoples.

　　President Lourenco, who is visiting this time, has frequent exchanges with China.

During his first presidential term, he came to China to attend the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in September 2018, and paid a state visit to China in October of that year. After his re-election in 2022, strategic communication between China and Angola will become closer.

　　This time Lourenco visits again, and the improvement of China-Angola relations is an important achievement.

The joint statement issued by the two sides involves strategic arrangements such as working together to build a community with a shared future for mankind and deepening high-quality cooperation in building the "Belt and Road". It also includes the specific implementation of global development initiatives, global security initiatives, and global civilization initiatives that are highly in line with Africa's actual needs.

In addition, the two sides also signed a number of bilateral cooperation documents, covering both top-level design and practical cooperation.

　　Liu Haifang, director of the Center for African Studies at Peking University, pointed out that China and Angola have a traditional friendship. China has provided strong support for Angola’s post-war reconstruction and economic development, helping it transform its resource endowments into development dividends. The upgrading of the relationship between the two parties can be described as a "natural outcome". It shows that China-Angola relations have entered a new stage of development, becoming more mature and firmer.

　　The outside world has noticed that before the start of this year's National Two Sessions, President Bio of Sierra Leone visited China.

Now, within one month, two African heads of state have visited us. The intensity of the heads of state diplomacy reflects the closeness of China-Africa relations.

　　Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs, talked about China-Africa relations at the Foreign Minister’s Press Conference during this year’s National Two Sessions. He pointed out that China will continue to stand firmly with its African brothers and support Africa in gaining true ideological and conceptual independence. .

Strengthening exchanges of governance and modernization concepts is an important part of supporting Africa's accelerated modernization process. During their visit to China, Bio and Lourenco not only had face-to-face and in-depth communication with Chinese leaders, but also visited local areas to deeply experience the Chinese style. Modernization concepts and realistic pictures.

　　In the face of a century of changes, China-Africa cooperation has continued to deepen and become more substantial, and has become a model for cooperation among developing countries.

During the meeting with Lourenço, Xi Jinping specifically pointed out that at present, the collective rise of developing countries is unstoppable, and the global South should not be absent whether it is global governance or development and prosperity.

Some analysts believe that the pie of China-Africa cooperation is getting bigger and bigger, and the vigorous development of the global South represented by China and Africa will help safeguard the common interests of more developing countries.

　　The new session of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation to be held this autumn will be an important platform for Chinese and African leaders to discuss plans for future development and cooperation and exchange in-depth experiences in state governance.

Some comments pointed out that before the forum, leaders of African countries such as Bio and Lourenco visited China one after another to "pre-heat" for high-quality China-Africa cooperation.

　　"In this great year for China-Africa cooperation, inviting leaders of African countries to visit China and exchange views on corresponding forum initiatives and follow-up China-Africa cooperation will help find more new solutions that meet the new needs of China-Africa development." China's Modern International Relations Li Wentao, executive director of the African Institute of the Institute, said that Chinese and African leaders have expressed their willingness to deepen the community of a shared future and believe that more concrete measures will be implemented when the forum is held to promote closer China-Africa cooperation.

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