President Hu Jintao leaves Beijing for Cameroon today, kicking
off a visit to fulfill China's promise to Africa.
A tour throughout the African continent will take him to eight
African countries, five of which the Chinese president will set
foot in for the first time.
Hu announced China's aid package in November when Chinese and
African leaders put their heads together at the Beijing Summit of
the China-Africa Cooperation Forum. His eight-point proposal
provided African countries with more assistance and preferential
loans, coupled with the commitment to help the continent with more
hands, expertise and training programs.
Hu's tour is telling evidence of the Chinese government's
sincerity in its promise and resolution in deed.
China's African policy unveiled at the Beijing summit shows that
the country will continue to attach great weight to building strong
ties with Africa.
China's aid to the African continent, which enables the two
sides to bring their cooperation to a higher level, will help some
African countries survive and others move steadily forward.
Hu's trip will lay a solid foundation for the new strategic
partnership between China and Africa. Hu will visit Cameroon,
Liberia, Sudan, Zambia, Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique and
Seychelles.
China has a long history of friendship with the continent. In a
sense, Hu is on a trip to visit old friends, such as Zambia, the
first South African country that established diplomatic relations
with China.
The political dimension of China-Africa relations fares well
under the principle of equality and mutual trust. This is a
relationship free from sensitive issues.
Good relations have produced an interactive effect. China and
the continent have exchanged frequent visits. Both President Hu and
Premier Wen Jiabao toured parts of Africa last year. Since 2004
more than 20 heads of state from the African continent visited
China.
The constant contacts between China and the African continent
are a case in point of the smooth development of the bilateral
relations.
After China and Africa deliberated and redefined the nature of
their future relations last year, Hu's visit will help the two
sides keep the momentum of their growing ties.
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(China Daily January 30, 2007)
