China-Africa relations continued to reap fruitful results in 2024, despite the turbulent international situation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a press briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.
Mao reviewed the highlights of China-Africa relations throughout the year 2024 and looked forward to great cooperation in the new year.
"Throughout 2024, China-Africa relations continued to yield remarkable results amidst a turbulent and changing international landscape. We have witnessed a grand gathering of the big China-Africa family. Nearly 6,000 guests from China and abroad, including leaders from all 53 African countries that have diplomatic relations with China, the African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson [Moussa Faki Mahamat] and United Nations (UN) Secretary-General [Antonio Guterres], gathered in Beijing for the China-Africa Cooperation Forum (FOCAC) Beijing Summit. We have witnessed a significant elevation of China-Africa relations. Bilateral relations between China and all African countries having diplomatic ties with China were elevated to the level of strategic partnerships, while the overall characterization of China-Africa relations was elevated to an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era. We have witnessed major progress in China-Africa friendly cooperation. The FOCAC Beijing Summit put forward six features of the modernization that China and Africa should jointly advance and ten partnership actions for advancing such modernization, with a series of landmark projects and small-scale yet impactful projects have been implemented in Africa. We have witnessed the great solidarity of the Global South and the collective rise of the Global South with China and African countries as key members. The FOCAC Beijing Summit adopted the Beijing Declaration, jointly issuing a just voice against hegemonism, bloc confrontation, decoupling and disruption of industrial and supply chains," said Mao.
"Looking ahead to 2025, we are committed to actively implementing the outcomes of the FOCAC Beijing Summit and the important consensus reached by China and African leaders. China is ready to work with African countries to seek closer synergy between our policies and development strategies, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields and enhance people-to-people exchanges. On issues concerning each other's core interests and major concerns, we will continue to offer steadfast mutual support. We will continually enrich the connotation of the all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era, work hand in hand to safeguard the common interests of the Global South and promote international fairness and justice, contributing to global peace and development," said Mao.
China-Africa relations reap fruitful results in 2024: spokeswoman
China remains resolute in its pursuit of the dual-carbon goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, positioning the green transition as a core driver of high-quality development, according to Zhao Chenxin, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday in Beijing, Zhao outlined significant achievements in 2024 and provided a roadmap for 2025, which includes advancing carbon reduction initiatives, strengthening green industries, and enhancing ecological protection efforts.
"We've rolled out guidelines for accelerating the green transformation of our economy and society and advancing nearly 200 specific initiatives. We've also released a catalog of industries supporting this transition, promoting 112 green technologies and 47 advanced low-carbon projects. We've developed a two-year action plan for energy conservation and carbon reduction, along with seven sector-specific plans, achieving significant progress. It is predicted that we reduced energy consumption intensity by over 3 percent last year, surpassing our targets. Additionally, we’ve implemented 194 national standards in the 'dual-carbon' field and supporting local governments in establishing carbon emission budget systems," Zhao said.
Zhao also emphasized that efforts in resource conservation and ecological protection continued to gain momentum.
"We've rolled out policies on promoting food conservation, reducing food waste, developing water-saving industries, and encouraging waste recycling. More than 60 billion yuan (about 8.2 billion U.S. dollars) of government funding has been allocated to enhance environmental infrastructure and support major ecosystem protection and restoration projects, including the 'Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program'. Additionally, we've formulated the Ecological Protection Compensation Regulations, and increased the annual funding of central and local governments to nearly 300 billion yuan (over 41 billion U.S. dollars)," Zhao added.
In addition, significant attention was given to programs aimed at large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-ins.
"In 2024, we allocated 300 billion yuan in ultra-long-term special treasury bonds to support large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-in programs. In the first 11 months of the year, national investment in equipment and tool procurement rose 15.8 percent year on year, contributing 65.3 percent to overall investment growth. Through the trade-in program, over 60 percent of consumers chose new energy vehicles, driving the domestic penetration rate of new energy passenger cars to over 50 percent for six consecutive months," Zhao explained.
Looking ahead, China will mark two major milestones in 2025 - the 20th anniversary of Chinese President Xi Jinping introducing the concept that 'lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets,' and the fifth year since China announced its dual-carbon goals.
Zhao said that the commission will continue to work with relevant stakeholders and prioritize these efforts by advancing carbon reduction, pollution control, green growth, and ecological expansion, while accelerating the comprehensive green transformation of the economy and society.
"We will actively plan the carbon peaking initiatives for the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), develop integrated evaluation and assessment methods, advance national carbon peaking pilot projects, and accelerate the building of zero-carbon industrial parks. We will further strengthen fiscal, financial, investment, and pricing policies and standards to foster the healthy development of green and low-carbon industries," Zhao stated.
"We will continue to enhance environmental infrastructure, implement major ecosystem protection and restoration projects, and explore mechanisms to realize the value of ecological products. We will work to achieve greater results in promoting the programs of large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-in, so as to increase funding, broaden coverage, optimize the implementation of the policies, and amplify their leverage effects in 2025," Zhao concluded.
China reaffirms commitment to green transition and dual-carbon goals: NDRC
