China, Africa strive for more results in win-win cooperation

NAIROBI, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Earlier this month, the Nairobi Expressway marked a milestone of 10 million trips by vehicles passing through the road since its official launch in July 2022.

"It's so convenient to take the expressway! It used to take two hours to drive from the airport to downtown, and it took even longer in case of traffic jam. Now it only takes 20 minutes," said John Andigo, a taxi driver in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.

The 27.1 km expressway, which was invested, developed and constructed by a Chinese company, has become a "game changer" for 4.4 million people in Nairobi, and one exemplar of the fruitful cooperation between China and Africa.

According to official statistics, China has participated in the construction of more than 6,000 km of railways, 6,000 km of roads, nearly 20 ports, and more than 80 large-scale power facilities in Africa.

Under the Belt and Road Initiative, more infrastructure projects were launched in partnership with China in Africa, said Cavince Adhere, a Kenya-based international relations scholar.

Trade between China and Africa also soared to a record high. China's latest customs data showed that two-way trade amounted to 1,878 billion yuan (274 billion U.S. dollars) in 2022, up 14.5 percent year on year.

"The growth was not just in quantity but also in quality," Adhere added.

The growing interest in bilateral trade also brings more opportunities for African youths to acquire a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of China.

More people-to-people exchanges are expected to intensify, Adhere said.

Public support has yielded fruitful results in promoting China-Africa friendship, which continues to be the backbone in South-South cooperation and a fine example in international relations.

Cooperation between China and Africa is moving steadily forward in an all-round, multi-tiered and high-quality fashion, which takes the lead in international collaboration with Africa, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Saturday.

In his message to the 36th African Union (AU) Summit, Xi said he is ready to work with leaders of African countries to build a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future.

Benjamin Anyagre, general secretary of the Ghana-China Friendship Association, told Xinhua that Xi's message highlighted the importance the Chinese government attaches to China-Africa friendly cooperation and the expectation of building a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future, which is exciting news for Africans.

Anyagre also commended the Chinese medical team's efforts to roll out free cataract surgeries for low-income Ghanaian patients to help them restore their vision. "We are keenly looking forward to a more close China-Africa community with a shared future," he said.

Costantinos Bt. Costantinos, professor of public policy at the Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, said Xi's message signifies the great importance China attaches to the African continent in general and the AU in particular.

"Going forward, I expect the two sides to nurture their already thriving relations while at the same time broadening the areas of cooperation further into people-to-people and other important sectors," he said.

The 36th AU Summit, held from Saturday through Sunday, has concluded with a call for togetherness in speeding up the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement and in dealing with various challenges facing the continent.

Since the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation 2018 Beijing Summit, China and Africa have witnessed concrete results towards building a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era in health, poverty reduction, agricultural development, infrastructure, green development and other fields, said Humphrey Moshi, director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam of Tanzania.

"I am very optimistic that the cooperation will not only broaden but deepen given China's unwavering support for the socio-economic development in Africa," said Moshi.

"Given China's past performance and reliability in Africa, we expect an upgraded and stronger cooperation between Africa and China in the future," he said.