African leaders applaud Beijing Summit
6/11/2006 16:23
The Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) has
seen substantial fruits and refreshed the half-century bilateral ties, African
leaders said at a closed-door roundtable of the historic diplomatic event on
Sunday.
Leaders of China and 48 African countries exchanged views on regional
and international issues of common concern during the two- day summit that
concluded Sunday afternoon and adopted unanimously the FOCAC Beijing Action Plan
(2007-2009) and the FOCAC Beijing Summit Declaration, which called for a new
type of strategic partnership aiming for strengthened mutual trust and economic
cooperation.
Heads of African delegations expressed their opinions and made
proposals on how to bolster collaboration in an all-round way during the
roundtable, to which Chinese President Hu Jintao delivered a speech.
African
leaders said the summit was "fruitful" and attributed the success to the
time-cemented friendship, adding that the forum mechanism provides a solid
platform for dialogue and cooperation.
Chinese President Hu Jintao's pledge
on Saturday responded effectively to the concerns of African people, they said,
expressing appreciation of China's assistance over the past half century.
The
package of preferential policies covering aid, trade, investment and social
development for Africa announced by Hu was applauded by African leaders.
In
his speech at the opening ceremony of the Summit, Hu pledged China will double
aid, provide US$5 billion of preferential loans and buyers' credits to Africa,
exempt more debts by poor African countries, further open China's market to the
continent, and help its infrastructure facility construction.
The leaders
said that China's unswerving support to Africa's development and its pragmatic
approach when dealing with African affairs are very inspiring.
They said that
the cooperation between China and Africa has been evolving under the principles
of mutual respect, non- interference of each other's internal affairs and mutual
benefit.
China-Africa cooperation enjoys huge potential and stands as an
effective means to protect and boost cultural diversity, they noted.
Chinese
companies signed on Sunday morning 14 commercial contracts and agreements worth
nearly US$1.9 billion with 11 African nations covering natural resources,
infrastructure, finance, technology and communications.
Xinhua News
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