African ambassadors to China hailed the deepening China-Africa partnership, calling China a vital partner in Africa's modernization journey and a friend that offers reciprocal development opportunities.
During the Africa Day, celebrated on Friday in Beijing, China Global Television Network (CGTN) interviewed four African ambassadors, who shared their hopes for further strengthening cooperation with China.
Rahmat Allah Mohamed Osman, Permanent Representative of the African Union to China, highlighted China's diplomatic efforts to foster bilateral communication and elevate Africa's position in the international community, particularly pointing to the unique opportunities provided by the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
"I think the FOCAC as a mechanism by itself will give us an opportunity to discuss a lot of things together with China, unlike our partnership with others -- we have partnerships with other countries. But this type of mechanism is not available [in our partnership with others], because it gives us a chance to meet regularly at different levels, even at the strongest level, in order to discuss our concerns and to agree on the issues. And we would like here to take this opportunity to thank China for supporting the African Union position, at least when it is one of the countries, the fairest country, which asked for the inclusion of the African Union into the G20," said Osman.
Martin Mpana, Ambassador of the Republic of Cameroon to China and Dean of the African Diplomatic Corps in China, highlighted that China's path to modernization serves as a model for other developing nations, including those in Africa.
"China's modernization is a result, of course, of people's decisions, people's commitment, very good leadership, and vision from the leaders. The Communist Party of China is doing a lot. Because their policies are people-centered policies. In Africa we can do the same though we don't have the same political systems," said Martin.
Hodan Osman Abdi, Ambassador of Somalia to China, emphasized that economic development is a key driver of modernization, and that China has been setting the stage for win-win cooperation, offering African businesses real opportunities in its vast domestic market.
"Modernization is about making people's lives better, not just counting up GDP. Now one excellent driver of modernization is economic development and China has been setting the stage for a win-win cooperation where economic development is mutually reinforced. China is setting up opportunities for African enterprises and African companies and African products to find their markets here in China," she said.
Additionally, China has played a pivotal role in infrastructure development, agricultural progress, and other sectors of African countries, which has laid a strong foundation for their independent and sustainable development. With all the solid cooperation projects and action plans, China and Africa have been dedicated partners amid global economic turbulence.
"I mentioned earlier that Congo is a co-chair of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. The forum's conclusions have been important. We have the Beijing Action Plan and the ten actions for cooperation. I believe these are a number of projects to consolidate and strengthen cooperation between China and Africa at a time when we are experiencing turbulence in the global economic and trade sector," said Jacques Jean Luc Nyanga, Ambassador of the Republic of Congo to China.
Ambassadors expect further cooperation with China at Africa Day celebrations
