By Yu Wensheng
Following his state visit to the United States, President Hu Jintao began a four-nation tour in Asia and
Africa on Saturday to visit Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Nigeria and
Kenya.
By visiting the United States and four Asian and African
countries on one tour, the arrangement is in itself a message to
the rest of the world: China attaches considerable importance to
relations with developed countries such as the United States;
however, as the largest developing country in the world, it also
takes the strengthening and development of traditional friendly
ties and co-operation with developing nations as a major part of
its diplomatic policies. China seeks to "make as many new friends
as possible, without sacrificing its close relations with old
ones."
President Hu's visit to these four Asian and African developing
countries is aimed at reinforcing traditional ties with old friends
and discussing with them new areas, ways and subjects of
co-operation against the changing international backdrop in a bid
to inject new energy into South-South co-operation.
This year happens to be the 50th anniversary of the beginning of
diplomatic relations between the People's Republic of China and
African countries. On May 30, 1956, China established diplomatic
relations with Egypt at ambassadorial level, kick-starting its
drive to forge diplomatic ties with African countries. Now China
maintains diplomatic relations with 47 African countries. Over the
past 50 years, China and African nations have backed and helped
each other and seen their friendly co-operation expand and flourish
into an all-weather friendship.
The Chinese Government and top leaders have always given full
attention to Africa and its relations with African nations, as
shown in their many visits to the continent over the years. The
late Premier Zhou Enlai visited Africa three times from 1963 to
1965, including a tour of 10 countries from December 1963 to
February 1964.
He also brought up the five principles for China's relations
with African nations and the eight principles for Chinese aid for
foreign countries. His visits have remained a fond memory for those
African nations ever since.
In 1996, then Chinese President Jiang Zemin tabled the
five-point proposal on maintaining friendly relations of lasting
stability and broad co-operation between China and Africa with an
eye on the 21st century, namely "sincere friendship, treat each
other as equals, unity and co-operation, joint development and look
to the future."
Since the beginning of the new century, the friendly
co-operative relationship between China and Africa has entered a
new phase of all-round co-operation. China's new generation of
collective leadership remains highly attentive to developing the
country's relations with African nations. Top Chinese leaders,
including President Hu Jintao, paid several visits to the
continent. At the same time, Chinese leaders continued to explore
new fields and ways to develop Sino-African co-operation.
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In February 2004, President Hu Jintao raised a three-point proposal
during his first African trip as China's head of State: "maintain
traditional friendship and push for new development of Sino-African
relations; maintain mutual assistance and benefit and promote
common prosperity for China and Africa; maintain close co-operation
and protect the interests of developing nations."
At the Asian-African Summit in April 2005, President Hu proposed
four principles for constructing a new strategic partnership
between Asia and Africa: "Respect and support each other in
politics, complement each other for common success in economics,
learn from each other's strong points in culture, and maintain
mutual trust, dialogue and co-ordination in security."
In September of the same year, President Hu announced five
measures that China would take to help other developing countries
speed up their development at the high-level meeting on development
and finance during the summit to mark the 60th anniversary of the
United Nations.
In January, the Chinese Government announced the direction and
targets of the country's African policies for the new century in
"China's African Policies." This autumn, China will host the
China-Africa Co-operation Forum in Beijing, combined with the third
ministerial meeting, where Chinese and African leaders will gather
to jointly hammer out the general blueprint for a new strategic
partnership between China and Africa characterized by political
equality and mutual trust, economic co-operation, mutual benefit
and common success, and learning from each other's cultural
achievements.
President Hu's latest visit to Africa can be seen as another
major step along the path paved by his predecessors that will point
the way for future development. On this trip the Chinese head of
State will exchange ideas and hold face-to-face discussions with
the leaders of his host nations on bilateral as well as
China-Africa ties, in addition to jointly planning the future of
Sino-African relations. They will also make preparations for a
fruitful "Asia-Africa Co-operation Forum" and Beijing Summit later
this year.
President Hu's first stop on his four-nation tour of Asia and
Africa is Saudi Arabia, a big country in the Arabic and Islamic
community wielding considerable influence in the Middle East, the
Gulf region and the Muslim world. Bilateral ties between China and
Saudi Arabia have developed smoothly since they established
diplomatic relations in 1990. After succeeding the throne in
January this year, King Abdullah chose China as the first foreign
country to visit in his new capacity. During his China trip, King
Abdullah and President Hu reached an important common understanding
on forging a friendly strategic and co-operative relationship
between the two countries.
President Hu's current visit to Saudi Arabia is a reciprocal
gesture to King Abdullah's earlier visit. It is the first time in
the history of bilateral relations that the two nations' heads of
State went to each other's country within only a few months.
Saudi Arabia is the largest oil supplier to China and the
nation's top trading partner in the Middle East, with the value of
their bilateral trade reaching US$16 billion last year.
This is President Hu's first visit to Saudi Arabia, where he is
scheduled to speak to the Saudi Consultative Conference in addition
to holding talks with King Abdullah and meeting with Crown Prince
Sultan, who is also deputy prime minister. He will spell out
China's policies and ideas on developing relations with Arab
nations in the new century.
The second stop of his four-nation trip will be Morocco, which
is an African and Arab nation with significant influence over
regional affairs. The two countries and their peoples enjoy a very
long history of friendly relations. Morocco is the second African
country to have established diplomatic ties with China.
Bilateral relations between the two countries have developed
smoothly since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1958, with
frequent reciprocal visits by top state leaders including such key
government figures as the late Premier Zhou Enlai, former President
Jiang Zemin, former Chairman of the National People's Congress
Standing Committee (NPCSC) Li Ruihuan, former Premier Zhu Rongji
and current NPCSC Chairman Wu Bangguo on the Chinese side. King Mohamed VI
visited China in 2002.
Co-operation in various fields between China and Morocco has
achieved excellent results over the years. And in recent years, the
two countries have seen their mutually beneficial co-operation in
economy and trade develop at a relatively fast pace, with their
2005 bilateral trade value approaching US$1.5 billion, a
year-on-year increase of 28 percent.
China and Morocco have also kept admirable communication and
co-ordination over international affairs as well as those related
to the China-Africa Forum and the China-Arabic Forum.
President Hu's is the first visit to Morocco by a top Chinese
leader in the new century. He will hold talks with King Mohamed VI
during the visit, while some government departments of both
countries will sign several agreements concerning co-operation on
trade, culture, medicine and health.
The third stop on President Hu's four-nation trip will be
Nigeria, a major African country with an important role in African
and international affairs. Since the establishment of diplomatic
relations in 1971, China and Nigeria have also enjoyed smooth
development of their bilateral ties, gaining pace in recent years.
In April last year, during his visit to China, Nigerian President
Obasanjo and Chinese President Hu reached a consensus on forming a
strategic partnership characterized by political mutual trust,
economic mutual benefit and mutual assistance in international
affairs.
Nigeria became an important African oil supplier to, and the
third largest African trading partner of, China in 2005, when
bilateral trade value totaled US$2.83 billion, representing an
increase of 29.6 percent from a year earlier. The two countries
have also conducted fruitful co-operation in such regional and
international efforts as counter-terrorism and peace-keeping
missions.
President Hu's visit to Nigeria coincides with the 35th
anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two
countries. During his stay, President Hu will have talks with
President Obasanjo, meet with leaders of both the Senate and House
of Representatives of Nigeria's National Assembly and deliver a
speech to the lawmakers that will present his take on China-Africa
relations and China's African policies.
The last stop on his latest foreign trip will be the East
African nation of Kenya, with which China has had direct contact
since the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907). In the 15th century, the
enormous Chinese fleet commanded by Admiral Zheng He of the Ming
Dynasty reached several coastal towns of Kenya during one of his
seven great voyages. Local tribal chiefs and government officials
of those times also visited China afterwards.
Frequent high-level visits have taken place since the two
countries established diplomatic relations in 1963, including
former President Jiang, former premiers Li Peng and Zhu Rongji and
current NPCSC Chairman Wu Bangguo, while Kenyan President Kibaki
visited China in August last year.
The Kenyan Government has adhered to its one-China policy. The
two countries have maintained close contact and co-ordination on
international affairs. Their co-operation in economy and trade is
also expanding. Today, Kenya is an important trading partner of
China, while the latter is one of the leading Asian importers of
Kenyan products.
The total value of bilateral trade in 2005 reached US$475
million, representing a 29.7 percent year-on-year growth.
Co-operation in tourism is proceeding smoothly, with Kenya becoming
an official destination for Chinese tourists in March 2004. And
Kenya received 11,000 Chinese tourists last year.
Kenya's national flag carrier now operates direct flights
between Nairobi and Guangzhou in South China's Guangdong Province, while China has opened the
first Confucius Institute in Africa at the University of Nairobi.
During his stay in Kenya, President Hu will hold talks with
President Kibaki to discuss the future development of bilateral
relations.
President Hu Jintao's visit to Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Nigeria
and Kenya will further strength the traditional friendship between
China and the four countries and will enhance political mutual
trust, and expand mutual benefit and co-operation, helping to raise
bilateral relations with each of the countries to a new high.
The author is an associate research fellow with the China
Institute of Contemporary International Relations.
(China Daily April 24, 2006)
