Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Beijing Summit and the 3rd Ministerial Conference were held in Beijing from November 3rd to 5th. Heads of state, government and delegations from China and 48 African countries, as well as foreign ministers and ministers in charge of economic cooperation affairs attended the summit and ministerial meeting respectively.
Xinhua Beijing, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC)-Beijing Action Plan (2007-2009) was adopted in Beijing on the afternoon of Nov. 5, with China and Africa saying that they will strengthen cooperation in the economic field.
According to the plan of action, in the area of agriculture, the two sides resolved to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the fields of planting, animal husbandry, irrigation, fisheries, agricultural machinery, processing of agricultural products, animal and plant hygiene and food safety, and prevention and treatment of epidemics and diseases, and to actively explore new forms and ways to carry out agricultural cooperation. We will dispatch 100 senior agricultural technology experts to Africa and establish 10 demonstration centers of agricultural technology with special characteristics in Africa; encourage and support Chinese enterprises to expand their investment in African agriculture and further participate in the construction of agricultural infrastructure, the production of agricultural machinery and the processing of agricultural products in Africa; strengthen cooperation with Africa in the areas of practical agricultural technology and the development of agricultural human resources; and strengthen cooperation with African countries in the "Special Programme for Food Security" of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Strengthen cooperation with African countries within the framework of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)'s "Special Program for Food Security". In the area of investment and enterprise cooperation, the two sides undertook to continue to encourage and support mutual investment, actively explore new areas and ways of expanding investment cooperation, and take practical measures to safeguard its healthy development.
The two sides will promote the negotiation and implementation of bilateral agreements on promotion and protection of investment and avoidance of double taxation, create a favorable environment for investment and cooperation, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of investors of the two sides; and undertake to provide necessary facilitation to the investment enterprises of the two sides in terms of licensing procedures, customs clearance of goods, and entry and exit of personnel. The two sides expressed their commitment to strengthening cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises of the two sides, promoting industrial development in Africa and enhancing production and export capacity.
According to the plan of action, the Chinese government attaches importance to promoting the expansion of investment in Africa, and has decided to support the relevant Chinese banks to set up the China-Africa Development Fund, which will gradually reach a total amount of 5 billion U.S. dollars, and to encourage and support strong and reputable Chinese enterprises to invest in Africa to set up projects conducive to improving the technological level of African countries, increasing employment and promoting the sustainable development of the local economy and society; China is ready to China is willing to support strong Chinese enterprises to establish 3-5 overseas economic and trade cooperation zones in African countries with conditions. On trade, the two sides expressed their continued commitment to creating favorable conditions for the development of China-Africa trade and promoting the development of China-Africa trade in a balanced direction. China pledged to further open up its market to African countries, expand the zero-tariff treatment for commodities exported by African least developed countries with diplomatic relations with China from 190 tariff lines to more than 440 tariff lines, and expeditiously hold consultations with the countries concerned to sign an agreement at an early date and put it into practice.
The two sides will strengthen cooperation in the fields of customs, taxation, inspection and quarantine to promote the healthy and orderly development of China-Africa trade; in line with the principle of mutual understanding and accommodation, properly resolve trade differences and frictions through bilateral and multilateral friendly consultations; gradually improve the mechanism of "China-Africa Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry" to give full play to its role of communication, coordination and coordination. In the financial sector, the two sides decided to continue to promote the development of China-Africa Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CAJCCI). In the financial field, the two sides decided to continue to promote relevant cooperation and support business exchanges between commercial banks of the two sides, so as to enrich the connotation of China-Africa economic cooperation; China encourages Chinese financial institutions to set up more branches in Africa, and the African side is willing to provide necessary assistance in this regard.
The two sides agreed to continue to make the construction of infrastructure, especially transportation, communications, water conservancy and electric power facilities, a key area of cooperation between the two sides. The Chinese government will continue to encourage and support Chinese enterprises to participate in the construction of infrastructure in Africa, and at the same time emphasize the strengthening of technical and managerial cooperation with Africa to help African countries improve their independent development capacity; the African side is committed to continuing to increase the degree of openness in this field, and welcomes the participation of Chinese enterprises in the construction of Africa's infrastructure, and will provide the necessary assistance and facilitation in this regard.
The two sides are determined to adopt diversified modes of cooperation on the basis of the principles of mutual benefit and ****same development, and to encourage and support enterprises of the two sides to ****same develop and rationally utilize energy and resources of the two sides.
China attaches great importance to helping African countries in their cooperation to transform their energy and resource advantages into development advantages, protect the local ecological environment and promote the sustainable development of the local economy and society. The two sides said they will promote cooperation in scientific and technological applications, technology development and transfer of achievements based on the principles of mutual respect, complementarity of advantages and mutual benefit***win. China will continue to organize practical technology training courses for Africa, carry out technical assistance demonstration projects, and promote the popularization and application of China's scientific and technological achievements and advanced applicable technologies in Africa.
The two sides will strengthen scientific and technological cooperation in such areas as agricultural biotechnology, solar energy utilization technology, geological exploration, mining technology and new drug research and development, which are of interest to both sides; and strengthen cooperation in the construction of information infrastructure, application of information technology, universal telecommunication services, network and information security, and development of telecommunication human resources.
The two sides said they encourage aviation and shipping enterprises on both sides to establish more direct routes connecting China and Africa; and further strengthen cooperation in the fields of certification and accreditation, standards, metrology, consumer product safety, industrial product quality inspection, entry-exit animal and plant quarantine, sanitary and quarantine, and safety inspection of special equipment. The action plan said the two sides believe that the current international situation is undergoing complex and profound changes, and that strengthening consultation and cooperation in international affairs is conducive to safeguarding the ****same interests of the two sides and developing countries.
In the plan of action, the two sides reaffirmed their respect for the Charter of the United Nations, the Five Principles of Peace***, the principles of the Charter of the African Union and other universally recognized norms of international relations; they agreed to safeguard the important role of the United Nations in international affairs and promote multilateralism and the democratization of international relations; and they supported reforms to enhance the authority and efficiency of the United Nations, and advocated that such reforms should be carried out in a manner that is conducive to maintaining the unity of Member States and fully taking into account the interests of both sides and the developing countries. They support the enhancement of the authority and efficiency of the United Nations through reform, and advocate that the reform should be based on democratic consultation and be conducive to maintaining the unity of Member States and fully addressing the concerns of developing countries; and that the reform of the Security Council should prioritize the increase of the representation of developing countries, especially African countries, and that it should be based on consensus through thorough and in-depth discussions.
The two sides welcome the establishment of the Human Rights Council by the United Nations and are determined to strengthen cooperation between the two sides in the Council and to promote the Council's commitment to respecting the historical, cultural and religious backgrounds of all countries and regions, to promoting dialogue among civilizations, cultures and religions, to attaching equal importance to civil and political rights as well as to economic, social and cultural rights, to giving priority attention to the right to development, to dealing with human rights issues and to eliminating double standards and politicization. double standards and politicization.
The Chinese and African sides are committed to strengthening coordination and cooperation to promote the early resumption of the Doha Round of negotiations and to achieve a balanced and weighty package of results that can make a real contribution to the development of the world economy. They will push for the relevant negotiations to fully take into account the level of development and affordability of developing members, and implement special and differential treatment for developing members, so as to enable them to fully participate in and effectively benefit from the multilateral trading system. China supports the accession efforts of African countries that have not yet joined the World Trade Organization. In the plan of action, the two sides called for strengthening international cooperation to promote the process of nuclear disarmament and the prevention of nuclear weapons proliferation, and supported Africa's efforts to realize the goal of a nuclear-weapon-free zone on a voluntary basis. China pledged to continue to support and participate in Africa's humanitarian demining process and efforts to combat the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, and to provide financial and material assistance and relevant training within its capacity.
The two sides also agreed to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the field of non-traditional security under the guidance of a new security concept centered on mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and coordination. China and Africa will also actively push the international community to pay attention to and effectively help resolve regional conflicts in Africa, and work to safeguard Africa's fundamental interests in the UN Security Council. China is willing to strengthen cooperation with Africa in preventing, controlling and resolving regional conflicts.
The plan of action said the Chinese government has decided to continue to provide development assistance to African countries within its capacity, and to double the scale of its assistance to African countries by 2009 compared with that of 2006; to provide 3 billion U.S. dollars of preferential loans and 2 billion U.S. dollars of preferential export buyer's credits to African countries over the next three years; and to waive the repayment obligations of the heavily indebted poor and least-developed countries (HIPCs) in Africa with which it has diplomatic relations up to the end of 2005. The Chinese Government will provide African countries with US$3 billion in preferential loans and US$2 billion in preferential export buyer's credits over the next three years; and forgive the interest-free loan debts of heavily indebted poor countries and least developed countries in Africa that have diplomatic relations with China, which are due to mature by the end of 2005. The Chinese government will continue to help cultivate various kinds of professional and managerial talents in accordance with the different needs of African countries, improve the follow-up mechanism and enhance the effectiveness of the training, and undertakes to increase its investment on the basis of the "African Human Resources Development Fund" in the next three years, and to provide various kinds of training to African countries for 150,000 times.
The Chinese and African sides resolved to actively implement the projects of China-Africa bilateral intergovernmental exchange programs, and to promote and support the activities of cultural and artistic performances and exhibitions of local and private communities on both sides; they resolved to encourage exchanges and cooperation between higher education institutions of the two sides, and to take practical measures to improve the practical effect of cooperation in the sending of foreign students by the two sides, and to actively discuss signing an agreement on the certification of academic qualifications between China and African countries. The Chinese government has decided to provide assistance to 100 rural schools in African countries in the next three years; increase the number of Chinese government scholarships to African countries from the current 2,000 to 4,000 per year by 2009; train a certain number of education administrative officials, principals of primary, secondary, primary, vocational and vocational education schools, and key teachers for African countries every year; set up Confucius Institutes in Africa in accordance with the needs and requirements of African countries; and help African countries establish Confucius Institutes in Africa. The two sides will set up Confucius Institutes in Africa according to the needs and requirements of African countries and help them to teach Chinese language, and encourage relevant Chinese institutions to teach African languages. The two sides are determined to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, Ebola, chikungunya and avian influenza, as well as in the areas of health quarantine and public*** health emergency response mechanisms.
The Chinese government has decided to provide assistance to 30 hospitals for African countries in the next three years, and to provide 300 million yuan of non-reimbursable assistance for the provision of anti-malaria medicines and the establishment of 30 anti-malaria centers; in the next three years, it will, according to its own capacity and the needs of African countries, continue to dispatch, send and increase the number of medical teams, and will actively explore new ways of dispatching medical teams with African countries; and it will continue to provide needed medicines and medical supplies for African countries, and will continue to provide medical supplies to African countries. We will continue to provide African countries with the medicines and medical materials they need, and help them build and improve medical facilities and train medical personnel. China and Africa are determined to strengthen dialogues and exchanges in the field of environmental protection as well as cooperation in human resources development, and China will increase the number of environmental management personnel and experts from African countries trained year by year in the next three years. The two sides will promote multilateral environmental cooperation with the United Nations Environment Program. The two sides also agreed to promote cooperation in the fields of capacity building, water pollution and desertification prevention and control, biodiversity conservation, environmental protection industry and environmental demonstration projects.
The Chinese government decided to add Algeria, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Gabon, Rwanda, Mali, Mozambique, Benin and Nigeria to the list of "Destination Countries for Chinese Citizens' Outbound Tourism Organizations", increasing the number of countries approved for China to open up as tourism destinations in Africa to 26. In the future, the Chinese Government will, upon the request of the African side, grant the status of "Destination for Outbound Tourism by Chinese Citizens" to more African countries that meet the conditions. The Chinese and African sides indicated that they would encourage the news media of the two sides to play an active role in promoting mutual understanding and enhancing mutual friendship. They will support the news authorities and media of the two sides to carry out exchanges and cooperation at various levels and in various forms. They will increase the number of visits by press groups from both sides. The two sides will support and encourage the news media of the two sides to strengthen their coverage of each other, and are willing to provide assistance and convenience for the media of the two sides to send each other's journalists for permanent or short-term coverage.
The two sides also agreed to strengthen cooperation in the field of radio and television broadcasting. China will focus on assisting African countries in training radio and television personnel. In addition, China and Africa are determined to strengthen civil contacts and agreed to develop and improve the China-Africa youth exchange network and the China-Africa youth collective dialogue mechanism in the next three years, and to continue to organize China-Africa youth festivals to promote China-Africa cooperation in the field of youth development.
China decided to gradually expand the implementation of the African service program for Chinese young volunteers and is willing to expand sports exchanges and cooperation with African countries.