China firmly walks side by side with Africa on path to modernization

In 2023, the trade volume between China and Africa reached $282.1 billion, with China maintaining its position as Africa's largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years.

By the end of 2023, China's direct investment stock in Africa exceeded $40 billion, making it one of the major sources of foreign investment in the continent.

Chinese and Kenyan researchers work at the Kenya-China Joint Laboratory for Crop Molecular Biology at Egerton University in Kenya. (People's Daily/Huang Weixin)

Over the past three years, Chinese companies have created over 1.1 million local jobs in Africa.

This growing cooperation between China and Africa has greatly contributed to their common development and brought tangible benefits to the people of both sides.

The pursuit of practical results is a distinctive feature of China-Africa cooperation.

Since 2013, China has been involved in the construction of over 6,000 kilometers of railways, over 6,000 kilometers of roads, and more than 80 large power facilities in Africa, effectively boosting the development of the continent.

Additionally, China has established 24 agricultural technology demonstration centers across Africa, which popularized over 300 advanced and applicable technologies. They led to an average increase in crop yields of 30 percent to 60 percent in relevant regions, benefiting over 1 million small farming households.

Chinese enterprises have invested in and constructed economic and trade cooperation zones in various industries such as agriculture, processing and manufacturing, and trade and logistics, making significant contributions to local tax revenue and improving Africa's ability to earn foreign exchange through exports.

Leveraging the platforms of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China and Africa have continuously deepened their practical cooperation. The fruitful results of the cooperation are effectively facilitating the two sides' common development.

Striving for higher-quality development and advancing in emerging fields remain the enduring goals of China-Africa cooperation.

Photo shows the gate of the China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone. (Photo/Cao Xue)

The development of new quality productive forces has become a key driver of high-quality cooperation between China and Africa.

In recent years, within the framework of the nine programs of pragmatic cooperation between China and Africa, Chinese enterprises have implemented a large number of clean energy projects in Africa, providing high-quality new energy products such as lithium batteries and photovoltaic products.

The two sides have established more than 10 joint laboratories or research centers, conducting joint research in areas such as resource remote sensing, renewable energy, and ecological agriculture.

Chinese enterprises have helped build and upgrade about 150,000 kilometers of communication backbone networks in Africa that serve 700 million users. The two sides have jointly formulated and released an action plan for the development of digital China-Africa cooperation, which aims to jointly build 10 digital transformation demonstration projects and train at least 1,000 professionals in the digital field.

China-Africa cooperation is continuously expanding into emerging fields, injecting strong impetus into Africa's economic transformation and development.

Providing Africa with the means for independent development is the aim of China-Africa cooperation.

Africa is a continent full of hope, and international cooperation with Africa should help enhance the continent's capabilities in independent development. In recent years, cooperation zones invested and built by China in Africa have helped create industrial clusters and build advantages for industrial development. The two sides have engaged in close exchanges in new technologies, industries and business forms to help enhance Africa's capacity for sustainable development.

During the China-Africa Leaders' Dialogue held in August of last year, China announced to launch the Initiative on Supporting Africa's Industrialization, the Plan for China Supporting Africa's Agricultural Modernization and the Plan for China-Africa Cooperation on Talent Development. These three initiatives focus on the urgent needs of Africa in achieving industrialization, agricultural modernization, and talent development, demonstrating China's support for Africa's development through concrete actions.

A local student learns to control a robotic arm under the instruction of a trainer at a Luban Workshop in Ethiopia. (People's Daily/Shen Xiaoxiao)

China and Africa are good partners along the path of development and revitalization. They are walking side by side on the path to modernization.

African countries are experiencing a new awakening. Models imposed from outside have brought Africa neither stability nor prosperity. African countries need to explore development paths suited to their national conditions and keep their future and destiny firmly in their own hands.

In this new historical process, China will continue to stand firmly with Africa and supports an Africa that is truly independent in thinking and ideas. China will assist Africa in building capacity for self-driven development and support faster modernization in Africa.

China will work with Africa to promote the synergy between high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, and the Agenda 2063 of the African Union and African countries' development strategies.

The two sides will deepen exchanges on experience of governance, and advance cooperation initiatives in line with the development needs of China and Africa in the new era, so as to strive for greater achievements of China-Africa cooperation.

Win-win cooperation and happiness for all are what it means to build a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future.

China always complements Africa's development through its own growth, and it is for both China and Africa to pursue win-win cooperation and common development. With top priority given to the interests of Chinese and African peoples, China advances its cooperation with Africa to improve the well-being of Chinese and African peoples and deliver more benefits to them.

China will enhance its long-standing friendship and deepen unity and collaboration with Africa to open up new vistas for common development.