Visit celebrates 'priceless' friendship

Chinese Foreign Minister meets leaders in four countries

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi began his first visit this year on Jan 10. Over eight days the itinerary was to include Kenya, Sudan, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Democratic Republic of the Congo. Chief among the issues to be discussed were strengthening ties in areas including infrastructure, industrialization and regional and international security.

Some of the highlights of Wang's visit so far:

Kenya

Wang met President Uhuru Kenyatta on Jan 10 and signed a memorandum of understanding with Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed.

Wang said the two countries would continue to strengthen their relationship and work more closely together in seven areas: modernizing agriculture; building infrastructure; industry transfer; renewable energy; protecting the environment; cultural tourism; and the maintenance of peace and security.

When President Xi Jinping visited Africa last year he had advanced two concepts, Wang said. One was to improve Africa's infrastructure, to build a good investment environment and attract more investment to help Africa's economy to grow. The other was to help Africa improve its ability to grow independently and build its own industrial system.

Kenya is a very important partner for China, Wang said, and is keen to continue to work with it following the guidelines Xi outlined.

China is keen to help Africans realize the dream of building a high-speed railway network, he said.

A subsidiary of China Railway Construction Corp recently completed the $1.83 billion upgrade of 1,344 km of track across Angola, and China Road and Bridge Corp is building a Mombasa-Nairobi railway that will eventually be extended to five other countries at a total cost of $13.8 billion.

"China's collaboration with Kenya and Africa is collaboration that benefits developing countries mutually, as well as supporting friends. We should give priority to the needs of Kenyan's development and people's wishes. This is a principal that we should insist on."

Sudan

China is mediating between Sudan and South Sudan not for its own interests but acting in according with the obligations of a responsible world power, Wang told his Sudanese counterpart, Ali Karti, in Sudan on Jan 11.

Wang, in Sudan on what he called a visit of support, said achieving stability in South Sudan as quickly as possible serves the people of South Sudan and the wishes of Sudan and other countries in the region as well as those of China and the world as a whole.

China stands ready to work with countries in the region to support mediation efforts for an early return to peace in South Sudan, Wang said. He reiterated China's support for Sudanese efforts to safeguard its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, to overcome its temporary economic difficulties, as well as its endeavors to maintain regional peace and stability.

China welcomes Sudan's national dialogue initiated by President Omar al-Bashir and would like to see a smooth conclusion of presidential and parliamentary elections in the country, Wang said.

War and conflicts hurt the oil industry, he said, an area in which China, Sudan and South Sudan have worked closely together. The people of Sudan and South Sudan are the first to be affected by such conflict, something China does not want to see, he said.

As a friend of both Sudan and South Sudan, Wang said, China will continue its mediation efforts.

In his meeting with Karti, Wang said there has been no change in China's policy of developing comprehensive, friendly relations with Sudan, and that China seeks to properly address problems that arise as the two work together.

China would like to maintain its traditional collaboration with Sudan in fields such as oil and infrastructure, and work with it in areas including agriculture, processing and manufacturing.

China encourages its enterprises to invest in Sudan, Wang said, adding that he hoped the Sudanese government would provide a more favorable investment environment and ensure the safety and security of Chinese companies and staff.

Karti expressed his gratitude for the help China had given in Sudan's time of difficulty and pledged to support Beijing unwaveringly on key issues involving China's core interests.

Sudan hopes to expand areas of collaboration and is aware of the importance of the safety of Chinese citizens and entities in Sudan, he said.

The country would like to work with China in improving regional peace and security and push the relationship to a new high.

Cameroon

"Under the leadership of Paul Biya, Cameroon enjoys political and social stability, sustained economic growth and improved living conditions of the people," Wang told the President of Cameroon in the Yaounde Unity Palace on Jan 13.

Wang said he hoped Cameroon and China would work together to find "new models, new areas and new areas in bilateral cooperation".

Cameroon had adopted a development strategy appropriate to its circumstances, he said, and as "a good friend and good partner" China rejoiced.

China is Cameroon's largest trading partner, he said, and among African countries it has undertaken the largest number of infrastructure construction projects using preferential credit granted by China.

Cultural exchanges between China and Cameroon are dynamic and their number is increasing, he said. Many young Cameroonians want to learn Chinese, and Wang visited the Confucius Institute at the University of Yaounde.

Cameroon's Foreign Minister Moukoko Mbonjo said China is a good, long-time friend of Cameroon and that their relationship is exemplary.

Equatorial Guinea

"China is a reliable and sincere friend of Equatorial Guinea," Wang Yi said when he met Equatorial Guinea president Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo in Bata on Jan 14.

"We appreciate Equatorial Guinea's firm support on issues that involve China's core interests, we cherish our friendship and we want to continue to support and work with Equatorial Guinea."

Wang said the aim of his visit was to strengthen collaboration between both sides.

China appreciates Equatorial Guinea's efforts to promote market diversification in a way that suits its particular circumstances, he said.

China would like to strengthen collaboration with the country in areas such as energy, modernizing agriculture, and the maritime and coastal economies, he said. Both should also strengthen collaboration on international and regional security.

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo thanked China for its help, and said the country was eager for more collaboration with China as the country pushed on with industrialization and economic transformation.

Wang attended a ceremony marking the handover of a Foreign Ministry building that China had a hand in contructing. During the Wenchuan earthquake in China in 2008 the people of Equatorial Guinea had made donations and helped build a school in Yunnan province, he said, calling such friendship priceless.

Messi Bala and Philip Etyang contributed to this story.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 01/16/2015 page3)