China is Africa's all-time friend: president of Republic of Congo

China is Africa's all-time friend, said Denis Sassou Nguesso, President of the Republic of Congo, in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) during his stay in Beijing for the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

"Because history shows that China has neither occupied, dominated, nor exploited African people. And yet, there have been historic contacts between China and Africa, the Silk Road. We're talking with President Xi Jinping today about the Belt and Road project. We say yes, China has been Africa's friend for all time. Regarding the [Republic of] Congo, we're talking about 60 years of friendly relations and direct cooperation. Since 1964, this friendship has grown stronger day by day and will continue to grow stronger through the decisions we make today. So we can say yes, it is a friendship, an all-time friendship between China and Africa," he said.

President Sassou Nguesso stated that he and other African leaders will strengthen cooperation with China, as many of these partnerships have already yielded remarkable results.

"More than 50 African heads of state met at the Great Hall of the People. We exchanged views and concluded that we must strengthen this cooperation with China. These are not empty words because in Africa, in every country, there are concrete signs of this cooperation with China; concrete projects have been carried out. We had productive discussions with each other. We didn’t come to China for a vacation, but to work with friends, because we know the decisions we are going to make will have tangible effects on the development of our countries, as they have in the past," he said.

The Republic of Congo has taken its position as the African co-chair of the FOCAC, which the president said is an honor and a responsibility.

"First of all, we thank African leaders and President Xi Jinping for the trust placed in our country. All agreed by consensus that [the Republic of] Congo should co-chair FOCAC for the next three years. For us, this is both an honor and a responsibility. We believe that we will take this responsibility seriously," Sassou Nguesso said.

China is Africa's all-time friend: president of Republic of Congo

China is Africa's all-time friend: president of Republic of Congo

China's top regulators on Monday announced a series of detailed measures to further ease the burden on companies and step up support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The specific measures include addressing the practical difficulties troubling small and micro market entities in production and operation and will keep enhancing targeted and differentiated assistance to individually owned businesses, said Luo Wen, head of the State Administration for Market Regulation, at a press conference in Beijing on Monday.

And the government will strive to effectively alleviate the burden on enterprises and make more efforts to reduce institutional transaction costs, he said.

"We will vigorously advance the reform on one-stop government services, pushing the services for enterprises to shift from 'multiple places, multiple windows and multiple times' to 'one place, one window and one time.' We will make greater efforts to reduce the burden on enterprises and carry out special inspections and random checks on illegal charges levied on businesses with the focus on key charging bodies and key industry sectors," said Luo.

He said the financial supervision departments will strive to step up their efforts on support for the real economy to alleviate the financing difficulties of small and micro businesses.

Luo emphasized the need to tailor financial products and services for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and implement differentiated arrangements in terms of credit lines, interest rates, financing maturities, and repayment methods.

"We will promote the combined effect of equity, funds, bonds and other financing instruments, and realize an amount of 300 billion yuan (about 42.4 billion U.S. dollars) of credit enhancement and granting for quality financing each year, which will fully benefit all types of businesses," said Luo.

Top regulators release plans to support SMEs by streamlining services and boost financing