President Hu Jintao delivered a speech on Saturday
morning at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Summit of the Forum
on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
The leaders of China and African countries, in a common pursuit
of friendship, peace, cooperation and development, are gathered in
Beijing to renew friendship, discuss ways of growing China-Africa
relations and promote unity and cooperation among developing
countries, said President Hu.
"Our meeting today will go down in history," Hu said.
The FOCAC was jointly set up by China and Africa in October
2000, a major initiative taken to promote traditional China-Africa
friendship and cooperation.
"In the six years since then, two ministerial conferences have
been held, first in Beijing and then in Addis Ababa. Today, the
Forum serves as an important platform and effective mechanism for
conducting collective dialogue, exchanging experience in governance
and enhancing mutual trust and cooperation in practical terms
between China and African countries," Hu said.
He said this year marks the 50th anniversary of the inauguration
of diplomatic ties between New China and African countries. Though
vast oceans keep China and Africa far apart, the friendship between
the two peoples has a long history and, having been tested by
times, is strong and vigorous.
"In the long course of history, the Chinese and African peoples,
with an unyielding and tenacious spirit, created splendid and
distinctive ancient civilizations. In the modern ear, our peoples
launched unremitting and heroic struggle against subjugation, and
have written a glorious chapter in the course of pursuing freedom
and liberation, upholding human dignity, and striving for economic
development and national rejuvenation," said Hu.
He noted that the progress and development of China and Africa
are major contribution to the advancement of human
civilization.
He said during the past five decades, the Chinese and African
peoples have forged close unity, and the friendship between the two
peoples has flourished. "China-Africa exchanges and cooperation
have grown in all fields and yielded fruitful results," said
Hu.
He said in international affairs, China and Africa enjoy trust
and cooperate closely to uphold the legitimate rights and interests
of the developing world.
Hu noted that China has firmly supported Africa in winning
liberation and pursuing development, and it has also received great
support from African countries.
"China has trained technical personnel and other professionals
in various fields for Africa. It has built the Tanzara Railway and
other infrastructure projects and sent medical teams and
peacekeepers to Africa. All this testifies to the friendship
cherished by the Chinese people towards the African people," said
Hu.
"We in China all not forget Africa's all support for restoring
the lawful rights of the People's Republic of China in the United
Nations. Nor will we forget the sincere and ardent wish of African
countries and people for China to realize complete and peaceful
reunification and achieve the goal of building a modern nation,"
said Hu.
Hu also hailed traditional friendship between China-Africa and
pledged to enhance it.
"China-Africa friendship is deeply rooted in the hearts of our
two peoples, and our friendship has endured the test of time and
changes in the world," Hu said.
"We have never strayed from the principle of enhancing
friendship, treating each other as equals, extending mutual support
and promoting common development in building our ties," Hu
said.
"Friendship provides a solid foundation for reinforcing China-
Africa friendly ties," Hu said, adding that both China and Africa
value the traditional friendship and are committed to enhancing
it.?? ???
He noted that the two sides treating each other as equals is
crucial for ensuring mutual trust.
"We both respect the development path independently embarked
upon by the other side. We both are serious in addressing each
other's concerns and are eager to benefit from each other's
practice in development," Hu said.
According to the president, mutual support is the driving force
behind the ever growing China-Africa cooperation, and common
development is the shared aspiration of the Chinese and African
peoples.
"We both wish to see progress in the development endeavor of the
other side and sincerely support such endeavor. And we are engaged
in comprehensive cooperation," Hu said.
He noted that the world today is undergoing profound and complex
changes, but peace, development and cooperation remain the calling
of the times. There is growing trend towards multipolarity and
economic globalization. Science and technology are making daily
advance, regional cooperation is deepening and there is increasing
interdependence among nations. All this has created rare
development opportunities for the international community.
On the other hand, Hu added, imbalance in global development,
widening gap between North and South, the combination of
traditional and non-traditional security threats as well as
increasing factors of instability and uncertainty standing in the
way of peace and development all pose a daunting challenge to
developing countries in their pursuit of sustainable
development.
"China is the largest developing country, and Africa is home to
the largest number of developing countries. The combined population
of the two sides accounts for over a third of the world total.
Without peace and development in China and Africa, there will be no
global peace and development," He noted.
In the new era, China and Africa share increasing common
interests and have a growing mutual need. The forging of a new type
of China-Africa strategic partnership is determined by the dynamics
of China-Africa cooperation, and it represents our wish to promote
global peace and development, he said.
Building strong ties between China and Africa will not only
promote development of each side, but also help cement unity and
cooperation among developing countries and contribute to
establishing a just and equitable new international political and
economic order, said Hu.
President Hu, 41 heads of state or government and senior
officials of 48 African countries that have diplomatic ties with
China, as well as representatives from regional and international
organizations, attended the landmark gathering highlighting
"friendship, peace, cooperation and development".
(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2006)
