China-Africa economic, trade cooperation reaches new heights

BEIJING -- China-Africa economic and trade cooperation has continued to scale new heights since the 2021 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), delivering tangible benefits to the people of both China and Africa, Assistant Minister of Commerce Tang Wenhong said Tuesday.

Tang made the remarks at a press conference detailing the progress and achievements that have been made under the nine cooperation programs China announced during the FOCAC's 8th Ministerial Conference held three years ago in Senegal.

These nine programs span categories such as medical and health, poverty reduction and agricultural development, trade and investment promotion, digital innovation, green development and capacity building, among others.

According to Tang, driven by programs aimed at trade and investment promotion as well as poverty reduction and agricultural development, China-Africa investment and trade cooperation has developed steadily.

GROWING TRADE, INVESTMENT COOPERATION

"China has remained Africa's largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years," Tang said, noting that in 2023, China-Africa trade reached 282.1 billion U.S. dollars, up nearly 11 percent compared with 2021, which demonstrates the strong resilience of China-Africa trade.

In terms of investment, China-Africa investment cooperation has grown steadily. As of the end of 2023, China's direct investment stock in Africa exceeded 40 billion dollars, making it one of Africa's major sources of foreign investment, Tang said.

"In the past three years, Chinese companies have created more than 1.1 million local jobs," he said. The economic and trade cooperation zones Chinese firms have invested in and built in Africa, in sectors such as agriculture, processing and manufacturing, trade logistics and other industries, have attracted more than 1,000 companies and helped increase Africa's tax revenues and foreign exchange earnings from exports.

Meanwhile, a raft of cooperative projects, such as the Lekki port in Nigeria and the Nairobi expressway in Kenya, have materialized over the past three years, while over the past 10 years, Chinese companies have signed more than 700 billion U.S. dollars of contract projects in Africa, he said.

Chinese companies have built a number of landmark projects, as well as "small but beautiful" projects, in the fields of transportation, energy, electricity, housing and people's livelihoods, he said. "The projects have effectively promoted local economic and social development."

Driven by green development, digital innovation and other programs, Chinese companies have also implemented a large number of clean energy projects in Africa, while exports of lithium batteries and photovoltaic products to Africa have increased significantly, Tang said.

CHINA-AIDED PROJECTS BENEFIT AFRICA

At Tuesday's press conference, Liu Junfeng, deputy head of the China International Development Cooperation Agency, said that tasks related to Chinese aid and development cooperation under the nine programs have all been completed over the past three years, with tangible results.

For instance, 25 medical and health projects have materialized, including the China-aided headquarters for the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Bobo-Dioulasso hospital project in Burkina Faso.

To help African countries cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, China has over the past three years supplied 240 million vaccine doses, as well as batches of medicine and medical equipment to Africa, and dispatched medical teams to provide technical assistance, Liu said.

Forty-seven poverty reduction and agricultural development projects have been carried out in African countries such as Malawi, Burundi and Cote d'Ivoire. During the period, China also sent more than 500 agricultural experts to Africa, and provided emergency food aid worth nearly 700 million yuan (roughly 100 million U.S. dollars) to more than 30 countries, including Djibouti, Gambia and Mali, according to Liu.

He said China has also provided assistance to African countries in areas including employment promotion, digital innovation, green development, capacity building and people-to-people exchanges.

FORTHCOMING FOCAC SUMMIT TO FURTHER TIES

Tang said China and Africa will continue to deepen their friendship and discuss cooperation plans during the FOCAC 2024 Summit, scheduled to be held in Beijing from Sept. 4 to 6.

"China will expand institutional opening up to Africa and deepen cooperation on industrial and supply chains, so as to further advance China-Africa economic cooperation and development linkage for shared benefits," Tang said.

Shen Xiang, director of the West Asia and Africa Department under the Ministry of Commerce, said at the press conference that China has been actively exploring new models of financial cooperation with Africa and is committed to providing support for the sustainable economic development of African countries.

"In the future, we will continue to encourage and support financial institutions from China and Africa to innovate financial cooperation models, enrich financial service products, and focus on supporting cooperation on green development, digital economy and the development of small and medium-sized enterprises," Shen said.

He said that a conference of Chinese and African entrepreneurs will also be held during the summit, featuring two discussion topics on industrial and supply chain cooperation and the development of emerging industries.

The discussions will enable the sharing of successful experience in cooperation between Chinese and African entrepreneurs under the guidance of the forum's initiatives, with a view to exploring new cooperation opportunities, he said.

"The entrepreneurs conference will encourage Chinese and African business communities to communicate and build consensus, promote the implementation of new measures for practical cooperation, further expand the influence of the summit, and promote the high-quality development of China-Africa economic and trade cooperation," Shen said.