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China to spend $50b on projects in Africa
A total of 182 newly-signed agreements between China and Africa are estimated to cost $32 billion dollars, a Chinese diplomat in Africa, Dr Ren Xiaoping, has revealed.
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An additional 61 agreements on projects have been signed in the past three months, summing up to $18.3 billion dollars.
Dr Ren made the statements in a presentation at a seminar in Beijing on China-Africa relations and development.
The presentation formed part of this year's seminar for renowned editors from selected African countries in the Chinese capital. The seminar had the objective of equipping African journalists with requisite knowledge on the development of China, as well as establish the relevance of China-Africa relations.
Dr Ren said China’s support to the economic development of Africa in recent years could not be underestimated. However, he said, to ensure sustainability, the two entities must continuously adopt five major pillars, which are political trust, a win-win economic cooperation, cultural exchanges, security and coordination of internal affairs.
She noted that all of the above would focus on the implementation of 10 major areas of cooperation, including industrialisation, culture, infrastructure, agriculture, financial services, trade and investment, poverty reduction, public health and security.
"A lot of work has been done and the Chinese are quite serious about their full implementation after various mechanisms have been put in place," she said.
She observed also that there were specific institutions set up to monitor plans and measures, adding that “initial results so far were good”.
According to Dr Ren, the Chinese government had always championed a "win-win" relationship with the African continent.
She said China had benefited from Africa, and that was evidenced in the number of Chinese who travelled to various countries in Africa to engage in commercial trading and other activities.
For instance, she said, in the first half of last year, about 774,000 Chinese nationals travelled to Africa to work.
"Meanwhile, there are about 24,000 Chinese peacekeepers in Africa keeping peace in trouble spots, as well as dealing with the issue of piracy on the seas,” she observed.
She said China had no intention of exploiting Africa to its advantage.