China has played a pivotal role in peaceful development around the globe by strengthening China-Africa cooperation and promoting peace and security among Global South partners, said Cameroon's Defense Minister Joseph Beti Assomo during the Beijing Xiangshan Forum.
The 11th Beijing Xiangshan Forum is being held in the Chinese capital from Thursday to Saturday.
With the theme of "Promoting Peace for a Shared Future," this year's forum involved more than 500 representatives from official delegations of more than 100 countries and international organizations, as well as more than 200 Chinese and foreign experts and scholars. Among them, the official delegation includes more than 30 defense ministers and military chiefs.
Prior to the Xiangshang Forum, Assomo had participated in the 2024 Summit of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which ran from Sept 4 to 6 in Beijing. Both forums, he said in an exclusive interview with China Central Television (CCTV), have demonstrated how China creates opportunities for peace across Africa, the most critical premise for the continent's development.
"You see the theme of this event, as on the wall, 'Promoting Peace for a Shared Future', promoting peace. When there is war somewhere, development is not possible. There are many wars in Africa, so we expect more and more close cooperation between China and Africa, so that we can give peace a chance everywhere in Africa. And I think you are working in that way and you are succeeding," he said.
The defense minister stressed that more developed countries have a responsibility to help underdeveloped countries achieve common prosperity instead of creating barriers and wars.
"You have a Global South, it means we also have a Global North. So, if we can work hand-in-hand for all humanity so that those who have power, economical, political, or diplomatic power, can work hand-in-hand with those who are not developed or who are poor, so that there could be human solidarity. We have that dream, and we are doing that with China," he said.
Initiated in 2006, the Beijing Xiangshan Forum is a high-level platform dedicated to promoting exchanges and cooperation among defense authorities, armed forces, international organizations and scholars.
Dream of human solidarity forms basis for China-Global South cooperation: Cameroonian minister
The recently-approved action plan for stabilizing foreign investment has attracted a new wave of foreign-funded projects across China.
Formulated to ensure stable foreign investment in 2025, the action plan was approved by a State Council executive meeting last month.
Under the plan, China will support pilot regions in effectively implementing opening-up policies related to such areas as value-added telecommunications, biotechnology and wholly foreign-owned hospitals, providing whole-journey services for foreign-invested projects in these sectors.
In a foreign-funded intelligent manufacturing factory in Suzhou of east China's Jiangsu Province, engineers are making final adjustments to a vehicle-mounted display production line with an annual production capacity of 650,000 units, which is expected to contribute an annual increase in output value of 1.3 billion yuan (about 179.5 million U.S. dollars).
"In addition to the new production line, we will invest an additional 50 million yuan (about 6.9 million U.S. dollars) or so to upgrade the old production line this year, which can also realize automated and digitized production," said Ge Fengchen, general manager of Harman Suzhou branch.
In a smart factory of a foreign-funded elevator production company in Guangzhou City of south China's Guangdong Province, two intelligent production lines have just been put into use.
In addition to the Guangzhou factory, this intelligent production line is also scheduled to be put into use in its factories in Shanghai, Tianjin and Chengdu.
"This production line integrates a central control system, a joint control system, and an automatic positioning system. While using the (digital) twin technology on the management platform and automated inspection of the entire process, the production line is able to predict and prevent possible failures," said Jia Yuhui, president of Hitachi Elevator (China) Co., Ltd.
In January alone, a total of 4,229 foreign-invested enterprises were newly established nationwide with 97.59 billion yuan of paid-in foreign investment, increasing by 27.5 percent from December last year, according to the latest data released by the Ministry of Commerce.
"In recent years, the utilized foreign investment in the park has maintained a high growth, and a number of high-quality projects have been launched. The paid-in foreign investment in the first quarter of this year is expected to reach 1 billion U.S. dollars, maintaining growth momentum," said Liu Hua, vice chairman of the Suzhou Industrial Park Administrative Committee.
China's favorable policy attracts new wave of foreign-funded projects
