FOCAC fuels Sino-African cooperation

Foreign Minister Wang Yi has expressed willingness to further "burnish the credentials" of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation as China and the Republic of Congo, cochairs of the forum, have formulated a timetable and road map for the development of the forum over the next three years.

Wang made the remarks at a news conference on Tuesday after meeting with President of the Republic of Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso in Brazzaville, capital of the country.

Wang said his visit to the Central African country aims to build up consensus on improving and upgrading the forum's cooperation.

In the next three years, a series of meetings and events, including a coordinators' meeting on the implementation of the follow-up actions of the ministerial conference of FOCAC, the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges and the 10th FOCAC Ministerial Conference, will be held to gradually implement the outcomes of the FOCAC summit held in Beijing last year, according to Wang.

At the Beijing summit, the two sides adopted a declaration on jointly building an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era and an action plan for FOCAC for the next three years.

The top diplomat highlighted the role of FOCAC in promoting Africa's development and improving the well-being of African people, calling it a symbol of China-Africa solidarity and cooperation, a banner of South-South cooperation, and a model for guiding international cooperation with Africa.

Over the past 25 years since the establishment of the forum, China has helped Africa build 100,000 kilometers of roads, more than 10,000 km of railways, nearly 1,000 bridges and nearly 100 ports, with more than 1 million jobs created in Africa over the past three years alone.

Wang noted that the livelihood projects implemented in Africa have benefited the people of many African countries.

In order to implement the outcomes of the Beijing summit, Wang called for further aligning development strategies and increasing exchanges of governance experience.

He also called for efforts to ensure the full implementation of zero-tariff treatment for 100 percent tariff lines, put in place a China-Africa network featuring land-sea links and advance 1,000 small yet beautiful livelihood projects.

The two sides should improve the China-Africa investment and trade cooperation mechanism, in order to provide Africa with a broader market, more practical technologies, and more stable investment for its modernization, he said.

On the joint efforts of China and Africa to address climate change, the foreign minister said that China will work with African countries to carry out the clean energy projects proposed at the Beijing summit, and build the "Africa Solar Belt" to help Africa truly embark on the path of green and low-carbon development.

China has always supported Africa in achieving green development. The installed capacity of photovoltaic power stations jointly built by China and Africa has exceeded 1.5 gigawatts, lighting up numerous homes across the continent.

China will work hand in hand with Africa to promote international climate governance, Wang said.

Upholding the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities, China also calls on developed countries to provide financial, technical and capacity-building support to developing countries, especially African nations, he added.

In his meeting with Wang, Sassou Nguesso said that he expects China's emphasis on Africa will lead to greater attention on and support for the continent from the world.

He mentioned the pressing need to address challenges facing Africa such as infrastructure, power, agriculture and industrialization, pledging to advance the 10 partnership action plans China proposed at the Beijing summit and strive for greater progress in China-Africa cooperation.

The Republic of Congo is the second stop, after Namibia, of Wang's New Year visit to four African countries.

China's Foreign Ministry announced earlier this month that Wang was scheduled to visit Namibia, the Republic of Congo, Chad and Nigeria from Jan 5 to Saturday at the invitation of these countries.

This is the 35th consecutive year that a Chinese foreign minister has visited Africa on the first overseas trip at the start of the year, according to the Foreign Ministry.