China and Africa will seek to strengthen cooperation at the ministerial meeting

Ministers Wang Yi (Foreign Affairs) and Wang Wentao (Commerce) will travel to Dakar, capital of Senegal, to attend the event, while President Xi Jinping will deliver a speech via video link.

As a preamble to the meeting, the Information Office of the State Council (Cabinet) on Friday released a text detailing how the exchanges between the Asian country behave with that continent.

According to the document, the relations are much closer, the development of solidarity and cooperation is the cornerstone of China’s foreign policy, and the FOCAC meeting is expected to result in plans to further consolidate the results achieved, and promote recovery and progress after overcoming COVID-19. pandemic.

“The two sides will work together to plan and discuss outcomes to be adopted at the meeting in relation to key areas including health, investment, trade, industrialization, agricultural modernization, responses to climate change and the digital economy,” the so-called white paper added. .

The text revealed that the total investments in infrastructure projects in Africa between 2016 and 2020 amounted to nearly $200 billion, and included the construction of railways, roads, bridges, ports and electricity transmission and distribution networks.

On the other hand, Wu Peng, director of the African Affairs Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, rejected the accusations about Beijing’s alleged “debt trap” for countries in that region and pointed out the difficulties they are facing.

“In recent years, African countries have made efforts to promote social development, but the scarcity of funds is a major obstacle limiting development in Africa,” he said.

He said that China considers the financing needs of the continent, pays great attention to its debt sustainability and supports the idea of ​​debt relief.

In fact, 15 states canceled debt in the form of interest-free government loans, which expired at the end of 2020.

This year, China promised to help Africa tackle Covid-19 by providing more vaccines and also to boost the economy’s recovery through new cooperation and investment projects.

It also launched an initiative to enhance connectivity and explore more channels to harness the potential of this region for its well-being and prosperity.

jha / ymr