Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday put forward a three-point proposal for international cooperation with Africa, highlighting fairness, equality and pragmatism.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, made the remarks when meeting the press together with Senegalese Foreign Minister Yacine Fall and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Congo Jean-Claude Gakosso during the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
The FOCAC has evolved into a guiding light for international engagement with Africa. China is glad to see that other countries are now turning their attention to Africa, offering the continent support and assistance, Wang said.
He then proposed three key principles for international cooperation with Africa, hoping to build consensus among all parties.
"Fairness must be upheld. Modernization is not a privilege reserved for a few countries; African countries also have the right to develop. Given the colonial exploitation that Africa has suffered, developed countries, in particular, must shoulder their responsibilities, strengthen North-South cooperation, and increase investment in Africa's development. China will also continue to emphasize South-South cooperation to build international synergy," said the foreign minister.
The international community should respect the development paths chosen by African people themselves, Wang stressed, warning against condescending lecturing.
"Equality should be achieved. It is important to always listen to African voices and respect African people's efforts to explore their own development paths. There should be no condescension or finger-pointing," Wang said.
"Pragmatism should be advocated. It's imperative to honor commitments with concrete actions and bring visible and tangible benefits to the African people through practical cooperation," he said.
Chinese FM calls for fair, equal, pragmatic int’l cooperation with Africa
Chinese FM calls for fair, equal, pragmatic int’l cooperation with Africa
Chinese FM calls for fair, equal, pragmatic int’l cooperation with Africa
China in 2024 saw a faster transformation and upgrading of investment in manufacturing industry, a strong growth of investment in high-tech industries, and a rebound of investment in infrastructure construction, according to the latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Saturday.
The investment in manufacturing industry grew by 9.2 percent compared to the previous year, or six percentage points higher than the growth rate of overall investment. In particular, investment in technological upgrades of manufacturing industry increased by eight percent, or 4.8 percentage points higher than overall investment growth.
Private investment in manufacturing grew by 10.8 percent, driving up overall private investment by 5.3 percentage points.
The structure of investment continued to optimize. Investment in high-tech industries rose eight percent compared to the previous year, which was 4.8 percentage points higher than the growth rate of overall investment. In particular, investment in high-tech manufacturing grew by seven percent, and that in high-tech service industry grew by 10.2 percent. Investments related to high-tech industries, such as aerospace equipment manufacturing and professional technical services, increased by more than 30 percent.
In 2025, China plans to moderately increase central government budgetary investments, issue ultra-long-term special treasury bonds and local government special bonds, and enhance efforts to support projects for implementing major national strategies and building security capacity in key areas, as well as implementation of large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-in programs, with the aim of stimulating private investment activity through various measures, effectively leveraging government investment to drive social investment, improving investment efficiency, and promoting steady growth in investments.
Transformation, upgrading of China's manufacturing investment accelerates in 2024