Africa, China Dev't Cooperation Meeting Held

Addis Ababa September 10/2019  A meeting dedicated to 7 decades of Africa-China development cooperation, “Sustaining China-Africa Friendship for a Bright new Chapter”, was conducted in Addis Ababa today.

The discussion focused on past achievements and mechanisms for promoting and strengthening future cooperation.

Speaking on the occasion, Chinese permanent representative to the AU, Ambassador Liu Yuxi said China and Africa have enjoyed sustained friendship and cooperation over the last 70 years.

He added that Chinese cooperation in areas of investment, trade, and numerous development programs has continued to grow.

According to him, the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative signed with 44 African countries to be implemented in accordance with the objective reality in each country is promising.

The ambassador stated that over 880 projects will be implemented in the course of three years.

Strengthening regional cooperation with due consideration to the development strategies of the African countries will roll out to improve the livelihood of the peoples in the region, Ambassador Yuxi pointed out.

The volume of trade transaction between China and Africa has reportedly grown to 20 million USD.

China-Africa Research Cooperation Center Board Chairman, Seyoum Mesfin delivered on the occasion an outline of China-Africa historical areas of cooperation and noted that China has already registered rapid progress in economic, political, technological and diplomatic spheres.

Africa has a lot to learn from the Chinese experience in attempting to draw Africans from poverty, he added.

China-Africa cooperation, which kicked off in 2000 with a budget of 5 billion USD, has now grown to more than 60 billion USD.

Mesfin also said that if African countries can effectively utilize the development cooperation that is extended to the continent, they can fulfill their collective desire of creating prosperous Africa.