China and Africa are striving to build a community with a shared future

NAIROBI, July 23 (Xinhua) – Today, one
"China-Africa Community with a shared future" is the buzzword
describe Sino-African relations. Behind the popularity of the sentence lies the
ceaseless efforts of the leaders of China and Africa to forge such a community by
deepen mutual political trust and pursue common development.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is currently in
travel to Senegal, Rwanda and South Africa. He will also attend the 10th BRICS
Summit in Johannesburg from 25 to 27 July and visit Mauritius during a stopover.

This is Xi's fourth visit to Africa since
assuming the post of Chinese president in 2013.

Many African leaders, including Cameroonians
President Paul Biya, Namibian President Hage Geingob and Zimbabwean President
Emmerson Mnangagwa, visited China this year.

China and Africa have always maintained
tradition of high-level close interactions, embodying fraternal bonds
between them and their determination to promote pragmatic cooperation
for mutual gain.

FREQUENT
HIGH-LEVEL VISITS

Klaus Schade, Research Associate at
The Economic Association of Namibia said that frequent mutual visits
The African delegations are the result of the historic friendship, which continues
today

Li Zhanshu and Wang, Chinese legislator
Yang, chairman of the National Committee of Chinese People's Policy
Consultative Conference, recently visited Africa.

Chinese State Counselor and Minister of Foreign Affairs
Wang Yi's visit to four African countries in January followed a long tradition.
In the past 28 years, Chinese foreign ministers have always chosen Africa
their first destination abroad.

In an interview with Xinhua, Netumbo
Nandi-Ndaitwah, Namibian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for International Affairs
relations and cooperation, frequent visits are necessary as they reinforce
the links between nations and, more importantly, between governments.

"The last decade has been marked
intensification of the frequency of mutual visits between government officials of China
and a large number of African countries, "said Gerishon Ikiara, a
Professor of International Economics at the University of Nairobi. "This
indicates the seriousness with which visits were made by both
country and China. "

Ikiara called the frequency and high caliber
interactions between Africa and China clearly indicates the sharp increase in
mutual desire to improve and diversify socio-economic, diplomatic and
and political relations.

Tarah Shaanika, former CEO of Namibia House
of Commerce and Industry, said: "For many years, the Chinese economy has
rapid growth, which has fueled the growth of other economies,
those in Africa. "

Praying the complete China-Africa
strategic strategic partnership he said to be the second largest economy
with the largest population, China "has a huge market that no one can
allow to ignore. "

BEYOND
TRADE

This year marks the 40th anniversary of
The reform and opening of China. The last four decades have not only witnessed
China's economic achievements, but also the development of jump of
Sino-African economic and trade relations

July 12, in the Nigerian capital
The light rail system of Abuja, supported by China, the first of its kind in the West
Africa has been commissioned. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari called him a
milestone in the history of the country.

"I am very optimistic that a modern train
service would bring a boost to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)
the economy and significantly improve social life, "he said.
FCT

In recent years, such projects of infrastructure
undertaken by Chinese companies abound in Africa and have become symbols of the
strong economic link between China and Africa. These include the Nairobi-Mombasa standard
gauge railway in Kenya and the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway, among others.

Thomas Kwesi Quartey, Vice President of
Commission of the African Union (AUC), said Africa and China have pragmatic and close
cooperation in the spirit of South-South cooperation in sectors such as
health, education, infrastructure development, trade and capacity building.

"China remains an example for us …
China has shown that it has been able to pull its millions of people
"Out of poverty," he said.

A report published last year by Ernst & Young, the
London-based multinational services firm said China has become the world's largest
largest contributor to foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa
2016.

He said between 2005 and 2016, China has invested
in 293 FDI projects in Africa, totaling an investment of 66.4 billion
US dollars and creation of 130,750 jobs.

Data from the African Affairs Department of
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has shown that trade between China and Africa
only $ 765 million in 1978 to $ 170 billion in 2017, an increase of
more than 200 times. China has also maintained its position of greater
business partner for eight years in a row.

The cumulative Chinese investment in Africa has
from zero to more than $ 110 billion over the past 40 years.

On international and regional issues, China
and Africa have maintained close coordination. Of the five permanent members of
the UN Security Council, China is the largest contributor to the peacekeeping force
in Africa, with more than 2,000 Chinese troops carrying out missions on the
continent.

KEY
DEFINING FEATURE

During his visit to Africa in 2013, Mr. Xi emphasized
in a speech in Tanzania that China and Africa are a community with a shared
to come up. Similar story, common development tasks and shared strategy
he said that interests have created a close connection between the two.

The lecturer from the University of Nairobi Ikiara said
since the 1960s, when the majority of African countries became independent,
China is considered to have special links with Africa. The notion of community
with a shared future is the "defining key characteristic" in Sino-African
He added:

Raphael Tuju, Secretary-General of Kenya
Jubilee to power, said China won the hearts and minds of Africans for
help the continent with loans and subsidies to improve infrastructure,
remains the biggest challenge to the development of Africa.

"More countries in Africa agree to
enter into the China-Africa Global Strategic Cooperation Partnership.
This is an indication of the valuable relations between China and Africa and
commitment to ensure a long-term strategic partnership, "Tuju said.

China to host China and Africa Forum
Cooperation Summit (FOCAC) in Beijing in September. Quartey of the AUC said the
The summit has been a vehicle for permanent cooperation in the bilateral, multilateral
and continental spheres.

"The summit will bring us closer"
Namibian Deputy Prime Minister Nandi-Ndaitwah said. "African countries
still much to learn from China, and Africa has a lot to offer to the
Chinese. The summit will strengthen the trust we have for each other. "

GNA