By Xu Weizhong
Algeria occupies a very special place in the history of
China-Africa cooperation, bearing witness to many events of
friendly cooperation since the founding of the People's Republic of
China. The peoples of the two countries established a friendship
during the Algerian War of Independence between 1954 and 1962.
Algeria is one of the few African countries that successfully won
independence through armed struggle. This experience drew Algeria
and the new China closer.
When the Algerian interim-government was formed in September
1958, China immediately gave it recognition and established full
diplomatic regulations with Algeria on December 20 the same year.
Since Algeria won full independence in 1962, friendly relations and
cooperation between the two countries have developed
comprehensively in political, economic, cultural, health and
military fields. Algeria made significant contributions to
restoring China's legitimate seat in the United Nations.
After the Cold War, Algeria gave China support in relation to
human rights and the Taiwan question. When it chaired the
Organization of African Unity (1999-2000), Algeria gave help with
preparatory work for the China-Africa Cooperation Forum, therefore
ensuring the successful convening of the forum in Beijing, October
2000.
The two countries have maintained political exchanges since the
establishment of their diplomatic ties, after each reshuffle of
Algerian government or adjustment in Chinese leadership.
Over the past 40 years, no matter what changes have taken place
in the international situation, the two countries have understood
and supported each other, achieving satisfying results in
political, economic and military cooperation, and setting a good
example for South-South cooperation.
The foreign ministries of the two countries signed the Agreement
on Holding Regular Political Consultations in April 1997. Senior
Chinese leaders have said on many occasions that China is willing
to work with Algeria to establish a strategic partnership,
strengthen consultation and coordination with Algeria and to do
every bit to safeguard the lawful rights of various developing
countries. Algerian leaders have responded, saying that Algeria and
China have deep and friendly relations and that Algeria is willing
to continue to consolidate and develop the existing friendly
relationship with China and to further enrich the contents of
South-South cooperation.
Economic cooperation
China and Algeria have seen increasingly enhanced trade
relations since the two countries signed a trade and payment
agreement for the first time in 1964. Particularly in recent years,
with the steady development of the Algerian national economy, trade
between the two countries has grown rapidly. Trade value stood at
US$198.85 million in 2000, and reached US$433.8 million in 2002.
From January to November 2003, trade value between the two
countries amounted to US$659.97 million of which US$565.08 million
were China's exports and US$94.9 million were China's imports. The
three figures were up 72.1 percent, 83.1 percent and 26.8 percent
respectively from the same period in the previous year. In the
years between 2000-03, bilateral trade value between the two
countries increased by 2.5 times.
In the meantime, the product mix of trade between China and
Algeria has improved. The trade value of industrial products China
exported to Algeria during the January-November period in 2003
reached US$295.83 million, accounting for over 50 percent of total
export value. According to Algerian Customs statistics, China's
exports to Algeria from January to September 2003 totaled US$338
million, becoming Algeria’s No. 7 importer.
China began to contract various engineering projects in Algeria
in 1979. By the end of September 2002, China and Algeria signed a
total of 198 labor contracts with a contractual value of US$1.898
billion and a business turnover reaching US$902.48 million. A total
of 5,067 Chinese workers worked in Algeria. At present 14 Chinese
companies including the China State Construction Engineering
Corporation have businesses in Algeria, engaging in various fields
including construction, water conservancy, petroleum and
telecommunication. According to Chinese foreign economic
cooperative business statistics, the value of labor contracts China
signed with Algeria in 2001 ranked the fifth among the world
countries and the first among African countries.
China-Algeria cooperation in the petroleum field has maintained
good momentum. Algeria is rich in petroleum and natural gas. By the
end of 2003, Algeria had petroleum and gas reserves equivalent to
135 billion barrels. Extractable reserves stand equivalent to 40
billion barrels of which petroleum accounts for 29 percent, natural
gas 56 percent, condensate 9 percent and liquefied petroleum 6
percent. In October 2002, the China National Petroleum Corporation
(CNPC) won the tender for the transformation of Algeria's Zarzaitine Oil Field. In July 2003, the group
officially signed Algeria's first petroleum joint venture. In
October the same year, it again signed two contracts with Algeria
for risk petroleum and gas exploration in the Cheliff Basin
201A-112 and 350 blocks in another basin.
Cooperation in health and culture
China began to dispatch medical teams to Algeria in 1963. Facing
a raging plague that year, the newly independent Algeria was short
of medical workers and medicine. As a result, it appealed to the
international community for emergency assistance. The then Chinese
leadership immediately made the decision to send a medical team to
Algeria, therefore initiating the mode of providing other
developing countries with medical technology, service, funds and
goods in the form of medical teams. Recent years have witnessed
enhanced cooperation in medical fields between the two countries.
In August 2002 the two countries signed cooperation agreements
including the Protocol on Dispatching Medical Teams to Work in
Algeria. There have so far been over 2,200 Chinese medical workers
sent to work there.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, China and
Algeria have signed some 20 exchange programs and cooperation
agreements on culture, education, sports and the press. In August
2002, the two countries again signed the Implementation Plan of the
Cultural Agreement. Currently, over 20 Algerian students are
studying in China. In recent few years, China held a number of
exhibitions in Algeria that included a photographic art exhibition
entitled China, a Beautiful Land (September 2003), China
Through a Lens exhibition (November 2002), World Heritages
in China photo exhibition (December 2001) and Chinese Peking
Opera Art exhibition (September 2001).
In December 2003, Algeria issued a commemorative stamp to mark
the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic
relations between China and Algeria. The stamp was designed in
Algeria and printed in China. It features the national flags of the
two countries in the form of two doves of peace flying side by
side, implying the friendly relations of the two countries and the
sustained effort for peace and development maintained by the two
countries.
The author is a researcher with the Chinese Institute of
Contemporary International Relations.
(China.org.cn?February 2, 2004)