African countries, historically left out of industrialization movements, need to work closely with China to keep up with the latest technological advancements, said Ethiopian Ambassador to China Tefera Derbew Yimam.
Yimam, who has been closely following China's ongoing "two sessions", expressed his admiration for the country's efficiency in achieving its goals during an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN).
"What impressed me most is what had been planned last year was implemented accordingly and the goal set has been achieved. Since China contributes 30 percent of economic development to the global economy, China's economy 5 percent of GDP growth will have a multiplier effect and a significant impact to the global economy," Yimam said.
He praised China's technological advancements and called for Africa to work closely with China to catch up with the new industrial revolution.
"China is advancing in many technological fields. I think as a developing country, we can learn and share experience and we can attract investment in this area. So that we can partner with China to be part of the technological advancement, because Africa has missed the last technological advancements and industrial revolution. I think this time we should not miss this opportunity. We have to closely work with China," he emphasized.
The "two sessions" refer to the annual meetings of China's highest organ of state power, the National People's Congress (NPC), and its top political advisory body, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
This year, the third session of the 14th NPC opened on March 5, while the third session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee began on March 4.
Africa must work closely with China for technological advancement: Ethiopian ambassador
China's development has never been a "threat" to anyone but the source of growth advancing common development of all countries, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular press conference in Beijing on Friday.
Some Western media and think tanks are peddling so-called "China Shock 2.0," saying that "China is achieving fast development in high-tech sectors such as renewable energy and AI and relies on foreign markets to absorb its overcapacity, thus reducing the market share of developed countries and sending more serious shock waves to the global economy compared with the era of traditional manufacture industry," while there are foreign commentators saying that the "China Shock 2.0" argument ignores the genuine innovation occurring within the Chinese industrial ecosystem and that Chinese export is the exact booster of the global economy that is needed in the turbulent period and more indispensable than ever.
Commenting on that, Lin said: "From the world's factory to the world's market and innovation powerhouse, China's development is achieved through strong performance driven by innovation and brings tangible cooperation opportunities and space to the world. High-quality Chinese products represented by the 'old three' of textiles, furniture and home appliances have stabilized the global industrial and supply chain, lowered the living cost of global consumers and eased the inflationary pressure worldwide. China's green production capacity represented by the 'new three' of electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels has bridged the gap between supply and demand in global green development and bolstered the global energy transition and low-carbon development. Moreover, China's high-tech products represented by the 'new new three' of robots, AI and innovative drugs have broken high-tech barriers and monopoly and enabled people in more countries to access affordable new technologies," said the spokesman.
"Openness and cooperation bring about progress and win-win result. China's development has never been a 'threat' to anyone but the source of growth advancing common development of all countries. What really creates 'shocks' to the world has never been the innovation of Chinese companies and efficiency of Chinese industrial capacity, but protectionist moves of setting up barriers, decoupling and severing industrial and supply chains. China will stay committed to high-standard opening up, defend the multilateral trading system and provide more certainty and new impetus to the world economy with its own steady development," said Lin.
China's development never a threat: FM spokesman
