Lin Songtian

 

Director General of the Department for African Affairs

 

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

 

Guangzhou, 30 October 2015

 

Your Excellency Madibo Charles Wagidoso, head of the delegation of diplomatic envoys of African countries in China and Ugandan Ambassador to China,

 

Your Excellencies and senior diplomats of African embassies in China,

 

Vice-Governor Liu Zhigeng of Guangdong Province,

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

Dear friends,

 

Good afternoon.

 

It is my great pleasure to attend the Ambassadors Forum today. First, on behalf of the Department for African Affairs of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Chinese Follow-up Committee of FOCAC, and Vice-Minister Zhang Ming, I would like to express warm congratulations over the opening of the Forum in Guangzhou, and extend high respect to you, diplomats of China and African countries and friends of various sectors, who have made contribution to promoting friendship and cooperation between China and Africa, and sincere gratitude to the Guangdong Provincial People’s Government and related departments for your hard work in receiving African diplomats to China and preparing the Forum.

 

Being held just before the Johannesburg Summit of FOCAC, the Forum is themed on “China’s Reform and Opening up & China-Africa Win-Win Cooperation”. We have chosen Guangdong Province for the Forum because Guangdong is the first pilot region for China’s reform and opening up, the vanguard of China in walking onto the path of reform and opening up, the biggest economy among all provinces in China, and an important partner of African countries for industrialization through production capacity cooperation. By holding the Forum, we hope to fully leverage the role of African diplomats to China as bridges and bonds for China-Africa exchange and cooperation. Through the visit in Guangdong, we hope that African diplomats can personally feel the great achievements Guangdong has made in reform and opening up and share China’s experience in reform and opening up. We hope that the two sides can conduct in-depth exchange on our respective development ideas, paths and models, jointly explore pathways and routes for China and Africa to better match development strategies and achieve win-win cooperation and common development against the new circumstances, and contribute your ideas and suggestions for the FOCAC Summit. The Forum is an important activity in preparation for the upcoming FOCAC Summit.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

This year marks the fifteenth anniversary of the founding of FOCAC. One month later, top leaders of China and African countries will gather at the Summit in Johannesburg of South Africa to discuss on China-Africa friendly cooperation. It will be another FOCAC Summit after the last one held in Beijing in 2006, and the first time for the Summit to be held in the African continent, which will be of far-reaching significance for promoting comprehensive transformation and upgrading of China-Africa relations and for ensuring more balanced, inclusive and sustainable development of the world.

 

The theme of the upcoming FOCAC summit will be China-Africa Collaboration: Win-Win Result and Common Development. The Chinese leader will elaborate on China’s new policies and ideas on developing relations with Africa and announce new initiatives for cooperation with Africa. China is willing to work together with African countries to take the Summit as an opportunity to give full play to the two unique advantages of China-Africa cooperation – political mutual trust and economic complementarity. Centered around the two major themes of industrialization and agricultural modernization which are most urgently needed by Africa, the two sides will focus on strengthening their mutually beneficial cooperation in key areas such as industrial matching and production capacity, infrastructure construction, development of human resources, investment and trade facilitation, finance, people-to-people and cultural exchange, peace and security, give priority to helping Africa to address the underdevelopment in infrastructure and high-caliber professionals, which are two bottleneck constraints hindering the development in Africa, and upgrade China-Africa business cooperation towards processing trade, production capacity cooperation and technology transfer, and towards investment operation and financial services. We will work to translate our traditional friendship, which has been an edge of our relationship, into dynamism driving our cooperation and development, and support African countries in turning their advantage of rich human and natural resources into the strength of economic development and real results benefiting the Chinese and African people. I am sure that with the joint efforts of the two sides, the Summit will become a historic gathering championing China-Africa future cooperation, and send a strong signal to the two peoples and to the entire world that China and Africa are joining hands for win-win cooperation and common development.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

Dear friends,

 

People of my generation have experienced the great journey of China’s reform and opening up and witnessed the tremendous changes in China and to the lives of the Chinese people. Over the past 30 years and more, China has maintained an average annual economic growth of around 10%, growing from a poor country into the second largest economy in the world. Over 600 million Chinese people have been lifted out of poverty and the per capita GDP in China is now over US$7000. All of these have attracted strong attention of the world, and offered a successful path of developing economy and improving livelihood for the developing world. China’s path of alleviating poverty and achieving development is a great contribution to the development of humanity. China is willing to share its successful experience without reservation with African brothers so as to achieve our common development.

 

Looking at the development journey of over 50 countries in the African continent, we are glad to see that some countries have embarked on a path of reform, opening up and independent development, and achieved prosperous development. However, due to the lack of the will and capability for independence, self-reliance, reform and opening up, some still suffer from external disturbances and have a long way to go to realize development and improve people’s lives. By reviewing our own journey of reform and opening up and summarizing some experience in our country, we hope to discuss with you how to further expand and deepen China-Africa cooperation for win-win cooperation and common development. There are many lessons China has gained from its reform and opening up, but I believe that the flowing are the keys for its success in development:

 

First, keeping to the path of development that suits one’s own national conditions. A country must choose a system and path of development based on the reality of its own. We can draw good experiences of other countries, but must not blindly copy them. China has a vast territory, a large population and weak foundation for development. Based on the summary of the historical lessons we have learned, we focus on the basic reality in the country, always keep to the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC). We keep emancipating our minds, reform and opening, and at the same time seek truth from facts, and keep to the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics. It has been proven by facts that the path we have taken is the right one. There are some media of the west who are calling on Africa to “look to the west” instead of “looking to the east”. I think such a mindset in the west is narrow-minded and selfish, and remains a cold-war mentality. Western countries themselves are having a bad time and struggling today. They cannot force others to take a path they themselves deem not operational. Such a cold-war mentality is already outdated and undesirable. Moreover, China has never required African countries to copy its path or model of development. What we have always been doing is to share our ideas and ways for successful development. I believe it is up to the African people to decide which way they should look to. African countries should demonstrate their advantage of late comers, draw on the strength of both the east and the west. They should look neither to the “east” or the “west”, but rather “forward” by uniting their people.

 

Second, keeping to reform and opening up and striking a right balance between reform, development and stability. We believe that development holds the key for addressing all problems. Reform offers the strong dynamism for economic and social development, and stability is the precondition and guarantee for reform and development. We need reform in order to achieve development, for which we must make up our mind to reform all institutions, policies, regulations, government behaviors and habits that are outdated and hindering development. At the same time we must also keep a proper pace of reform and take into account the affordability of the society to ensure stability of the society. Once the society is in chaos, reform and development can not be achieved.

 

Third, China’s reform started from setting up special economic zones and the experience gained was gradually applied. In our reform and opening up endeavor, we started by setting up four special economic zones in Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou and Xiamen. Based on the successful experience gained, we expanded the policy to coastal areas and later to the entire country. By taking such a gradual approach, we can introduce and learn from the advanced technologies and managerial experience of developed countries, learn about international rules and practice, strengthen our own capability of development, and avoid systemic risks. At the same time, through such an approach, we can use successful experience to guide the people to change their mindset, achieve unity in thinking, and endorse and support reform and opening up.

 

Fourth, the Chinese leaders keep with the times, seize the historic opportunities of global economic and industrial readjustment, and are proactive in opening up and taking the transfer of industries, capital and technologies of developed countries and “four Asian tigers”, so that China achieves fast economic growth with the help of economic globalization.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

The process of China’s reform and opening up is also a process of win-win cooperation and common development between China and Africa. In 1980 when China just introduced reform and opening up, China-Africa trade was only US$1 billion, but the figure exceeded US$10 billion in 2000 and jumped to US$220 billion in 2014. In 1980 there was nearly no Chinese investment in Africa, and the number was only US$500 million in 2000, but China’s non-financial investment in Africa exceeded US$30 billion in 2014. The long-term fast economic growth in China has also led to growing export of African bulk commodities and increasing Chinese investment in Africa. At present, China contributes to more than 20% of Africa’s economic growth, becoming an important part for Africa’s development. China is now Africa’s biggest trading partner and main source of investment. Africa is China’s second largest market for contractual projects and second largest source of import of crude oil. We have every reason to believe that driven by the matching our industries and cooperation of production capacity, China-Africa trade will exceed US$400 billion by 2020, and the Chinese investment in Africa will exceed US$100 billion.

 

Facts have shown that the fast economic growth of China has brought great development opportunities for Africa, and that continuous development in Africa can also help China to achieve better and sustainable development. Leap-frog development of China-Africa cooperation will bring more visible and tangible benefits to the people of China and Africa.

 

Diplomats,

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

The Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee has just been concluded, which has mapped out a blueprint for China to deepen reform and developing the economy and society in the following five years, and pointed out the way forward for the Chinese people. China’s economy has entered a new normal of medium-high growth, but the long-term positive trend will not change. In the following five years, China will import US$10 trillion worth of commodities and invest over US$500 billion overseas. There will be over 500 million outbound visits by the Chinese people. China will keep to the opening up strategy of mutual benefit, continue to deepen reform and opening up, and contribute more opportunities for prosperity and development of the world and of Africa.

 

At present, African countries are accelerating industrialization and agricultural modernization, committed to realizing economic independence and sustainable development. After over 30 years of reform and opening up, there are now a large number of high-quality industries and surplus production capacity in China, and we are working to promote economic transformation and industrial upgrading. China and Africa have matching strategies for development and enjoy high economic complementarity. We have the need and comparative edge for cooperation, and are facing a rare historic opportunity.

 

It is high time for China and Africa to match up industries and conduct cooperation in production capacity. Those who seize the opportunity can gain benefits. However, cooperation must be based on the wish of both sides. China will never take the old colonial path of the west featured by looting and the use of guns to force others to open their markets. We will never do that at the cost of ecology and environment and long-term interests of African countries.

 

China-Africa cooperation in production capacity can only be achieved through the concerted efforts of both sides. So long as African countries are ready and put in place well-functioning laws and regulations to assure investors, formulate preferential policies and provide an open market to enable investors to make money happily, and offer highly efficient and practical one-stop government service to make investors comfortable, China will make every effort to support African countries in making designs and plans and strengthening infrastructure construction and human resources development, and encourage and support Chinese businesses to go to Africa for investment and cooperation.

 

Our friends of diplomatic missions present here are participants and builders of China-Africa friendly cooperation, and have made positive contribution to the development of China-Africa relations over the years. I hope that you can use your own advantages to continue your role of bridge building, and serve as the envoys for China-Africa friendship and bridges for China-Africa cooperation. In the following discussions, I hope that ambassadors of China and Africa can express yourselves fully and engage in frank discussions, and contribute your ideas and wisdom to China-Africa win-win cooperation and common development. I hope that your excellencies can continue to support the development of FOCAC and contribute your part for the success of the upcoming FOCAC Summit.

 

Finally I wish the Forum a full success. I wish African diplomats all the best during the visit.

 

Thank you.