The traditional friendship between China and Africa is in a new
historical stage now, which will influence not only the economic
landscape of the two sides, but also that of the world.
Zhou Xiaojing, vice director of the Asia-Africa institute under
the Development Research Center of the State Council, gives
in-depth insights into how the alliance in the new millennium will
change the world. His view is carried on the Overseas Edition of
People's Daily Thursday.
The establishment of the diplomatic relationship fifty years ago
between China and Egypt marks the dawn of the cooperation between
China and Africa. The release of China's African Policy by
the Chinese government 50 years later after that marks the
historical further step toward the Sino-African comprehensive
cooperation. In this new stage, the across-the-board cooperation
will not only present fresh features, but also result to fresh
effects.
It is a comprehensive, strategic cooperation. With similar
experience in the history, China and African countries are against
unilateralism and power politics while striving for a new
international political and economic order of justice and fairness.
Both sides advocate a higher status and bigger role of the
developing world in dealing with international affairs. It is the
common interest that pushes forward the further alliance of the two
sides on the international strategic level.
The Sino-African relations have entered into a real win-win
situation. In the past 40 years, the economic relations between
China and Africa were not typically reciprocal. That has been
changed greatly in the recent five years due to improvement of the
trade and economic strength of both China and Africa.
Trade between the two sides jumped to nearly US$40 billion last
year from less than US$10 billion five years ago. By the end of
2005, the accumulative Chinese direct investment in Africa had come
to US$1.25 billion. Meanwhile, China has reduced and written off
10.5 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion) of debts of 31 African
countries. It has also offered duty-free treatment to 190
categories of imports from 28 African countries. Accordingly,
imports from Africa helped boost the Chinese economy.
The Sino-African economic cooperation helps Africa promote the
economic rise of the war-plagued continent, which has long been
marginalized in the globalization process. With the better
political environment there, Africa's potential of economic
development is attracting more and more attention.
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Its rich natural resources contribute greatly to sustaining the
global economy. Its large population represents a potentially
enormous market next only to China and India. More and more
countries are paying attention to Africa. The fast growing economic
ties with China may accelerate Africa's economic rejuvenation.
The advancement of the Sino-African partnership will bring the
era of Asia-Africa earlier to the world. The prediction in 1990s'
of the 21st century as the "century of Asia" was mocked at and
revised to the "century of Asia-Pacific". The ten years since that
prediction witnessed fast rise of China, India and ASEAN. Now
nobody has any doubt about that assumption.
Under the context of the faster than ever adjustment and
transfer of the world economy, the world has embraced the "century
of Asia" in the first half of the 21st century. The benefit of
globalization will extend to Africa in the second half of the 21st
century and make it one of the most active parts of the global
economic system, like Asia.
The broader cooperation between China and Africa may also have
cultural effect. In recent years, some countries turn their eyes to
China to draw on China's experience of developing its economy.
African countries, with their own situation, will find their own
way of development on the basis of learning from other
countries.
(People's Daily Online April 29, 2006)
