Expo to usher in a new journey for China-Africa economic and trade cooperation
By Wang Ke, People’s Daily
The First China-Africa Economic
and Trade Expo is slated to kick off on Jun. 27 in Changsha, capital of central
China’s Hunan province.
The expo is an implementation of
the eight major initiatives put forward at the 2018 Forum on China-Africa
Cooperation (FOCAC) Beijing Summit.
With 14 events, 53 African
countries and more than 10,000 guests, the expo is committed to injecting
strong impetus into the development of China-Africa economic and trade
cooperation in the new era by pooling more resources and mobilizing more
driving forces.
Exhibitions featuring five major
areas will be launched, in a bid to help China-Africa cooperation yield
pragmatic achievements in various sectors including trade, agriculture,
manufacturing, service industry, financial sector, and infrastructure.
Trade cooperation between China
and Africa enjoys steady progress and sound momentum of development. Statistics
indicated that China has been Africa’s largest trading partner for ten
consecutive years, with volume of bilateral trade reaching $204.2 billion in
2018, up 20 percent year-on-year.
China and Africa have continuously
improved bilateral trade structure.
Last year, China’s export of
mechanical and electrical products and high-tech products to Africa accounted
for 56 percent of its total value of exports to Africa, while the country’s
imports from Africa realized a year-on-year growth of 32 percent.
Import of
agricultural products rose by 22 percent from the previous
year, representing a significant increase in non-resource imports from Africa.
Cooperation between China and
Africa in infrastructure has created many highlights. The Soubre hydroelectric
power station, contracted by Sinohydro Bureau 5 Co., Ltd., is the largest of
its kind in Cote d’Ivoire.
The first generator set of the
hydroelectric power station has produced over 2 billion kWh of steady and clean
energy since it was put into service in May 2018. The product has not only
improved the proportion of hydropower in Cote d’Ivoire’s electricity system,
but also enabled the country to export electricity.
In recent years, Chinese
enterprises have actively participated in Africa’s infrastructure construction.
With the implementation of a great number of major projects in such areas as
rail transit, port, aviation, and electricity, these companies contributed
significantly to boosting connectivity in Africa while bringing China’s
technologies, equipment, standards, and services to Africa.
Industrial investment between
China and Africa has seen in-depth integration. By the end of 2018, more than
3,700 Chinese companies had set up branches in Africa, bringing over $46
billion to the continent.
Cooperation
zones
have become important platforms for Chinese investment in Africa. They, while
accelerating the formation of an industrial chain of the investment
projects, have achieved industrial agglomeration effect.
The establishment of industries
including manufacturing equipment, textile industry, and household appliances
has helped the local community boost industrialization, and build supporting
facilities, and improved the capability to increase foreign exchange earnings
through export.
China-Africa cooperation is in
full swing in multiple new areas. Chinese financial institutions have
established over 10 branches in Africa, where eight countries including South
Africa have included Chinese currency renminbi in their foreign exchange
reserves.
China has launched renminbi
clearing services with Zambia and concluded currency swap agreements with four
African countries including Morocco. In addition, bilateral cooperation in such
new forms of business as cross-border e-commerce enjoys rapid development.
Last November, many people from
Burkina Faso came to learn engineering machinery and maintenance techniques in
an industrial park of China’s Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology
Co. Ltd. in Changsha.
“We took them to visit our
workshops to show them how to operate equipment and explain all our key
techniques to them,” said Xiong Chuanyu, a staff member of Zoomlion Heavy
Industry Science & Technology Co. Ltd., who had worked in Africa for nearly
10 years.
Island country Madagascar in east
Africa has the largest planting area and highest output of hybrid rice in
Africa. The average yield per unit area of hybrid rice there is more than twice
that of local varieties.
The tremendous change owes
greatly to the constant efforts of experts at Hunan Academy of Agricultural
Sciences and an agriculture company in Hunan, which have popularized hybrid
rice in Africa for years.
Thanks to Chinese hybrid rice,
people of Madagascar have basically shaken off hunger, said a Madagascan
official, expressing heartfelt praise for Chinese hybrid rice.
Chinese enterprises have made it
possible for people in Kigali to watch television programs, said a citizen in
Kigali, capital of Rwanda, adding that when they have a
window into the world, they have the power to keep working hard for
their dreams.
The project to bring TV programs
to Kigali is undertaken by China’s pay TV company StarTimes, which aims to
enable people from over 10,000 villages of 25 African countries to watch
satellite TV programs.
Cameroon, whose hydropower
resources rank third in Africa, has a hydropower utilization rate of less than
5 percent and electricity access rate of less than 30 percent due to various causes.
Having sufficient electric energy has always been a dream of Cameroonians.
PowerChina Zhongnan Engineering
Corporation Limited has planned to build four hydropower stations for Cameroon,
with the total installed capacity approaching 2,000 MW. Upon completion, the
project will effectively improve the situation in Cameroon and light up the
life of more local people.
Africa has benefited from China’s
development, expressed Miriam Altman, Commissioner on the National Planning
Commission in the Office of the South African Presidency, saying that Chinese
investment has enhanced Africa’s capacity for self-development, and helped
Africa better integrate itself into global value chains.
At present, both China and Africa
hope to intensify alignment of development strategies, tap deeper into
bilateral cooperation, stimulate vitality of development, and cultivate new
growth points.
Staff members of Chinese shoe manufacturer Huajian Group work on the production line in the Eastern Industrial Zone located in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia. (People’s Daily/Ji Peijuan
Expo to usher in a new journey for China-Africa economic and trade cooperation
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