Chinese FM's New Year trip testament to rock-solid friendship between China, Africa

BEIJING -- China-Africa friendship remains rock-solid and stable, no matter what the international situation they face and what difficulties, obstacles, or disruptions they encounter, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Wang made the remarks during an interview with the People's Daily as he concluded on Saturday his New Year visits to five African nations, namely Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Botswana, Tanzania and Seychelles.

The fact that Chinese foreign ministers chose Africa for their first overseas visit every year since 1991 shows that China attaches great importance to Africa, Wang said, adding that such a concrete action embodies their traditional friendship and China's firm support for Africa's development and revitalization.

During his trip to Africa, Wang held meetings respectively with leaders and foreign ministers from the five African countries, during which the two sides have agreed to further upheld the spirit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), and carried out in-depth exchange over the follow-ups to the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity against COVID-19.

The two sides, Wang said, should join hands to safeguard their legitimate right to development and national rejuvenation, cherish their commitment to fairness and justice, advocate true multilateralism and oppose any external interference.

In fighting the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the world, Wang noted that China will continue to deliver urgently needed anti-virus supplies to African friends, send medical teams to countries in need, establish a cooperation mechanism of counterpart hospitals, promote the sharing of anti-virus experience, accelerate the construction of Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) headquarters building, and work with G20 members on the debt suspension in Africa.

China will fulfill its firm commitment that its vaccines will be provided as global public good, and stands ready to cooperate with African countries on COVID-19 vaccines and make them more accessible and affordable in Africa, Wang said.

Some leaders of African countries, including Seychelles president, have said they will be among the first to take a vaccine from China.

In boosting Africa's industrialization and home-grown production capacity, Wang said China is willing to make joint efforts with Africa to strengthen strategic alignment and build consensus on cooperation in line with the expectations of African countries, and push forward the joint building of the Belt and Road between China and Africa.

Wang noted that during his trip, the DRC and Botswana signed respectively a memorandum of understanding with China on jointly building the Belt and Road, becoming successively the 45th and the 46th African partner countries to participate in Belt and Road cooperation.

Meanwhile, the international community has a shared responsibility to support Africa's development, Wang said, adding that China stands ready to actively promote tripartite or multi-party cooperation with Africa, so as to jointly play a constructive role in promoting peace and development in Africa.