By Manal Abdel Fattah
Ambassador Liao Liqiang, China’s Ambassador to Cairo, said that the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation is the fourth summit in the history of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation after the Beijing Summit in 2006, the Johannesburg Summit in 2015, and the Beijing Summit in 2018, and it is also the largest diplomatic event held by China in recent years with the largest number of foreign leaders in attendance.
He added that the summit was held in the presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister, and other heads of all 53 African countries that have established diplomatic relations with China, as well as the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and representatives of more than 30 international and regional African organizations.
During the summit, the Chinese and African sides adhered to the theme of “working together to advance modernization and jointly build a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future”, reviewed the progress of China-Africa friendship, spoke highly of the progress made in implementing the outcomes of the forum, reached a clear political consensus on strengthening comprehensive cooperation between China and Africa, adopted two important documents, namely the “Beijing Declaration” and the “Action Plan”, and issued the China-Africa Joint Statement on Deepening Cooperation under the Global Development Initiative.
He stressed that the summit was a complete success, and achieved results in the following four major aspects: First, China established strategic partnerships with all African countries that have established diplomatic relations with China, and the foundation of China-Africa friendship lies in the solidity of bilateral relations between China and each African country.
During the summit, President Xi Jinping, other members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and the Chinese Vice President held extensive meetings with African leaders attending the summit, exchanging in-depth views on important strategic issues.
During the summit, China established or upgraded strategic partnerships with 30 African countries.
China’s standing with 53 African strategic partners will play a greater role in promoting the well-being of the people on both sides and maintaining world peace and stability.
Secondly, China-Africa relations have been upgraded to an all-weather community with a shared future in the new era.
As President Xi Jinping pointed out, China-Africa friendship transcends time and space, spans mountains and seas, and is passed down from generation to generation.
He added: After nearly 70 years of hard work, China-Africa relations are at their best in history.
During this summit, Chinese and African leaders agreed to upgrade China-Africa relations to an all-weather community with a shared future in the new era.
The level of China-Arab relations has been constantly rising, from a new type of partnership to a comprehensive strategic partnership, to a China-Africa community of shared future in the new era.
These relations have become more clear and diverse, reflecting the determination of the 2.8 billion people on both sides to stand together through thick and thin in the face of unprecedented changes in a century, and write a new chapter for the great cause of building a community with a shared future for mankind.
Thirdly, this summit articulated the six-point vision on China-Africa cooperation in promoting modernization, as modernization is the legitimate and inalienable right of developing countries.
How to achieve modernization and what kind of modernization will be achieved are historical issues facing the countries of the “Global South”.
In this context, President Xi Jinping put forward the six-point vision on China-Africa cooperation in promoting modernization, pointing out the need to achieve fair and reasonable modernization, open and win-win modernization, people-centered modernization, pluralistic and inclusive modernization, environmentally friendly modernization, and peaceful and secure modernization.
This vision has been widely appreciated by African leaders, and has become the political consensus between China and Africa, which indicates that our understanding of the laws of modernization is constantly deepening, and will undoubtedly have an important and profound impact on accelerating the pace of modernization in the “Global South” and the world as a whole.
