The relationship between China and Africa has been elevated to a higher level and bilateral cooperation has been boosted, demonstrating the unity and potential of Global South cooperation, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday.
China established or elevated its strategic partnerships with 30 African countries during the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing, and such solid bilateral relations are the foundation for China-Africa friendship, Wang said at a news conference about the outcomes of the summit.
Yassine Fall, foreign minister of Senegal, and Jean-Claude Gakosso, foreign minister of the Republic of Congo, also attended the joint news conference. The Republic of Congo will take over from Senegal as the rotating co-chair of FOCAC.
The overall characterization of China-Africa relations has been elevated to an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.
After first ascending from a new type of international relations to a comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership, and now rising to the new level, the China-Africa relationship continues to reach new heights with clearer characterization and greater substance, Wang said.
This demonstrates the firm resolve of the over 2.8 billion people from both sides as they march forward hand in hand amid unprecedented changes, he added.
“This summit has sent out a powerful message of China and Africa working together toward common development, and demonstrated the unshakable confidence, unity and cooperation among the Global South,” Wang said.
So far, China has helped Africa build or upgrade nearly 100,000 kilometers of roads, over 10,000 kilometers of railways, around 1,000 bridges and 100 ports, he noted.
China has sent medical teams to almost all African countries, providing around 230 million treatments, Wang said.
Furthermore, over the past three years, Chinese companies have helped create more than 1.1 million job opportunities on the continent, he said. “We must match our words with actions, and deliver tangible benefits for African people through concrete cooperation,” he added.
Fall, the foreign minister of Senegal, said that she is satisfied with the progress of cooperation between the two sides under FOCAC, and expressed gratitude for China’s commitment and efforts to make the China-Africa partnership a unique model of South-South cooperation.
Gakosso, the Republic of Congo’s foreign minister, said that by extending a brotherly hand to Africa for over 20 years, China has helped to accelerate the modernization of the continent.
“To the memory of Africans, never before has there been so much prosperous, exemplary and promising economic and commercial cooperation between a foreign country and our continent,” he said.
The summit carries forward the mutually beneficial cooperation and proactive solidarity that constitute the cornerstone of the China-Africa relationship, Gakosso said.