The Chinese Government said it is committed to supporting countries in Africa come off strongly from the economic downturns recorded during the coronavirus pandemic. Wang Yi, China’s State Councillor and Minister of Foreign Affairs disclosed this at the reception held by the Follow-up committee of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the IMF’s World Economic Outlook, Autumn 2020 report predicts a 3 percent fall in GDP for sub-Saharan Africa in 2020.
This is aggravated by the fact that many African countries have to repay loans from multiple lenders – from other governments such as the US, UK, Japan, France and China; from multilateral banks such as the IMF, World Bank, and AfDB; and commercial, private banks such as Goldman Sachs, as well as various state-owned banks such as China-Exim or India-Exim.
Last month, Zambia defaulted on its foreign debt after it missed a payment of more than $40 million. The country has been lent money by China and Chinese institutions amounting to $3 billion. The China Development Bank has agreed to a six-month delay in debt repayments. Wang said that COVID-19 was accelerated evolution of a new international order whose challenge calls for new responsibility and actions.
According to him, the world is undergoing changes unseen in a century, and COVID-19 is accelerating the evolution of the international order.
“The new challenge calls for new responsibility, and the new situation calls for new actions. How to make sure that China-Africa relations will seize the trend of the times and scale new heights? How to build on our achievement and further upgrade and enhance China-Africa cooperation? How to enable FOCAC to meet the challenges and achieve progress in creative ways? To answer these questions, China would like to share the following propositions with our African friends.
“First, we need to strengthen solidarity and build a stronger community with a shared future. The new international circumstances we face today further underscore the importance of this strategic decision, a decision that has become more relevant than ever. We must remain guided by the principle of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith and the principle of pursuing the greater good and shared interests. We need to firmly support each other in safeguarding national sovereignty and dignity, in independently pursuing a development path suited to national realities, and in protecting legitimate rights to development and achieve national rejuvenation together through joint efforts. Second, we need to tide over the current challenge together and build a China-Africa community of health for all.
“China will continue to work with Africa to fully deliver on the outcomes of the FOCAC Beijing Summit and the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity Against COVID-19, with greater focus on public health, economic reopening and improvement of livelihoods. I would like to reaffirm China’s firm commitment to making its vaccines a global public good. When the development of the vaccines is completed and they are available for use, China will actively consider providing them to African countries in need to help secure an early victory against the virus. Third, we need to pursue win-win cooperation to build a China-Africa community of development for all. Fourth, we need to embrace our responsibilities and work toward a community with a shared future for mankind,” he explained. He said FOCAC is a valuable asset for China and Africa and that the parties must keep pace with the times to ensure that the Forum remains a shining example of China-Africa relations. The next FOCAC meeting is scheduled to be held next year in Senegal.
