Senegalese FM highlights FOCAC cooperation in advancing Africa's socioeconomic transformation

China

Senegalese FM highlights FOCAC cooperation in advancing Africa's socioeconomic transformation

2024-09-05 23:51 Last Updated At：09-06 04:27

China-Africa cooperation has made tangible contributions to the socioeconomic transformation of African countries, Senegalese Foreign Minister Yacine Fall said in Beijing on Thursday at a press conference following the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

Fall, representing Senegal, the African co-chair of FOCAC, together with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Jean-Claude Gakosso, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of the Congo, the next co-chair of FOCAC, briefed the media on the major outcomes of the 2024 FOCAC summit as well as the fruitful results achieved through previous supporting sessions.

The summit, which is being held in Beijing from Wednesday to Friday, is the largest diplomatic event hosted by China in recent years, with the highest attendance of foreign leaders.

At the press briefing, Fall noted some of the key outcomes achieved since the last major FOCAC gathering was held in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, in 2021.

Fall said that great progress has been made in the implementation of the nine programs drawn up at the last FOCAC ministerial conference, which saw the adoption of the Dakar Action Plan, with these achievements making concrete and practical contributions to Africa's socioeconomic transformation.

The nine programs included in the action plan cover the medical and health field, poverty reduction and agricultural development, trade promotion, investment promotion, digital innovation, green development, capacity building, cultural and people-to-people exchanges, as well as peace and security.

Fall said that in order to achieve a trade balance between the two sides, China has pledged to enhance Africa's export capacity and provide convenient inspection and quarantine measures for African products exported to China.

"China is expanding access for African products and has implemented a 98-percent tariff reduction for Africa's least developed countries, and relevant measures are now being implemented. And this morning, President Xi Jinping announced that this ratio will be increased to 100 percent, opening up real new cooperation prospects for us," she said.

In terms of agriculture, Fall said the Senegalese side highly appreciates that agriculture was listed as a top priority area in the China-Africa development plan determined by the 2nd Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Agriculture, which was held in south China's island province of Hainan last year.

"In the industrial sector, we have seen the smooth launch of the Initiative on Supporting Africa's Industrialization, which is actively connected with the Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)," she Fall.

She also noted the key cooperation in the pharmaceutical and medical field which has given a further boost to the public health sector across Africa.

"In the field of public health, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) headquarters built and delivered by China in January 2023 is a major achievement. Together with the establishment of the African Medicines Agency, it will help strengthen Africa's capacity in the field of public health. At the same time, the technical partnership jointly initiated by the United Nations and China to develop Africa's local pharmaceutical industry will bring us new hope through joint investment between the Chinese and African private sectors," she said.

Themed "Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future," the 2024 FOCAC summit aims to strengthen friendship and outline future cooperation between the two sides.

Zhejiang, Jiangsu evacuate residents as Typhoon Bebinca lands in east China

2024-09-16 11:19 Last Updated At：11:37

Authorities in east China's coastal provinces Zhejiang and Jiangsu have launched emergency evacuation of residents to help mitigate the impact of Typhoon Bebinca -- the 13th typhoon of the year.

In Zhejiang's Pinghu City, communities have started the relocation work. The old town area of Xindai, home to about 1,400 permanent residents, including some 30 percent elderly, has been a focus of evacuation efforts.

Over 50 elderly residents have been evacuated to a temporary courtyard shelter, where they have plenty of space for meals and walking around. The shelter is equipped with folding beds, food, drinking water and medical staff standing by to address any health concerns.

The province also raised its emergency response for typhoon prevention to level II.

In Jiangsu Province, Nantong City has conducted comprehensive safety inspections and organized evacuations in key areas.

Nantong's Rugao Port on the Yangtze River was shutdown on Sunday afternoon.

All workers at the Zhangjiagang-Jingjiang-Rugao Bridge construction site -- located at a river shoal -- are evacuated ahead of the storm attack.

"From the temporary ferry to the Rugao-Zhangjiagang ferry, we have evacuated a total of 428 people. So far, all construction personnel of the Zhangjinggao Bridge within the scope of this construction site have been evacuated to our shelter," said Ding Xiaoxing, chief engineer of Rugao Water Affairs Department.

Authorities in Nantong has evacuated more than 1,400 people and over 200 vessels along the coastal area under its jurisdiction.

Making landfall in Shanghai on Monday morning, Typhoon Bebinca is the most powerful tropical cyclone directly hitting the Chinese financial hub in more than seven decades.