President Hu Jintao's state visit to Saudi Arabia, Morocco,
Nigeria and Kenya from April 22-29 was of great significance to the
development of relations between China and the four nations,
Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said in Nairobi on Saturday.
Li said Hu's Arab-African tour, following a visit to
the United States, had achieved the desired goals of consolidating
traditional friendship between China and the four nations,
enhancing mutual trust and expanding mutually beneficial
cooperation.
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The visit ushered in a new era featuring the development of
mutually beneficial relations between China and Arab, African
nations and developing countries at large, Li said.
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He said Hu held in-depth talks with leaders of the four nations and
exchanged views with them on bilateral ties and regional and
international issues of common interest.?
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During the tour the president made speeches on how to boost China's
links with the Arab and African nations in the current climate and
met entrepreneurs and students as well as public representatives,
Li said.
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China signed 28 accords with the four countries covering a variety
of sectors including politics, security, economy and trade, energy,
education, health, culture and tourism during Hu's various visits
and meetings.??
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Strengthening of political mutual trust, promotion of
bilateral relations
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During the four-nation tour Hu pointed out that efforts should be
made to push forward in an all-around way a new type of strategic
partnership between China and Arab and African countries featuring
political mutual trust, economic mutual benefit and mutual support
in world affairs.
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Hu said as China and the four nations were all developing countries
they had common interests in safeguarding world peace, boosting
common prosperity and improving their people's living
standards.
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China and the four countries should increase exchanges and
consultations, boost mutual trust, expand pragmatic and mutually
beneficial cooperation and have closer coordination in regional and
international affairs, Hu said.
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These opinions were echoed by the leaders of the four
countries.
Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz said people in his kingdom
held deep appreciation for the Chinese people and their leaders and
Saudi Arabia would always be a sincere and trustworthy friend to
China.
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Moroccan King S. M. Le Roi Mohammed VI said Hu's visit to his
country had injected new vitality into the Morocco-China relations
and he hoped for a continued expansion in bilateral
cooperation.
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Nigerian President Olusengun Obasanjo said Nigeria-China ties had
got onto a track of strategic partnership and he hoped continual
headway could be made.?
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Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki said his country expected to develop
better and closer ties with China.
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Innovative and practical cooperation
During the visits Hu said China would work with the four nations to
develop mutually complementary and win-win cooperation.
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He put forward a series of proposals, including extending bilateral
cooperation from the single field of trade exchanges to a greater
scope covering investment and technology, undertaking contracted
projects, expanding governmental cooperation to a broader range of
issues involving governments, enterprises and other economic
entities.?
Hu also proposed increasing intelligence-related projects such
as cooperation in capacity building, human resources, training and
technology exchanges, promoting the development of primary product
processing to realize added value, optimizing and upgrading
traditional manufacturing industries, attaching great importance to
facilitating local development and improving people's lives
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Hu's proposals and commitments made during the visits were welcomed
by the governments and business communities of the host
countries.
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They expected more Chinese corporate investments and cooperation in
areas of infrastructure construction, agriculture, manufacturing,
energy and resources.
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Saudi business communities, in particular, expressed their hopes of
establishing a strategic and global economic partnership with
China.
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Some world media outlets believe that the cooperation between China
and the four nations plus other developing countries will be
mutually beneficial and China's development will bring about
tremendous opportunities for the economic development of the Middle
East and African countries.
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Bilateral exchanges and a harmonious world
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Hu stressed that the Chinese, Arab and African civilizations which
were among the most ancient in the history should conduct various
exchanges and dialogues to deepen mutual understanding and
friendship between the people, promote the development of bilateral
ties and revitalize the ancient civilizations so as to make a
greater contribution to mankind and the 21st century.
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The president also talked about China's path of peaceful
development, the opening-up strategy and the concept of building a
harmonious world which helped deepen the understanding of China's
domestic and foreign policies.
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Speaking highly of the great achievements China had made in
economic and social development the leaders of the four countries
expressed their wish to learn and draw from China's successful
experience.
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They hoped to join hands with the Chinese people in building a
better future.
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Coordination and safeguarding regional peace
During his visits Hu noted that enhancing concerted coordination
among the developing countries conformed to the common interests of
all parties.
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He said China was willing to make joint efforts with other
developing countries to safeguard the principles of the United
Nations (UN) Charter, strengthen consultation and cooperation
within the framework of the UN and multilateral organizations and
jointly defend the legal rights of the developing countries.
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Hu spoke on China's position on the Middle East conflict, Iran's
nuclear issue, Iraq and Sudan, noting that China considered that
all actions and initiatives concerning the Middle East and the Gulf
region should respect the choice of the countries and the
people.??
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China supported the efforts of the African nations to seek unity,
build national strength and to seek the settlement of African
issues independently, said Hu. China also supported the leading
role of the African Union in strengthening solidarity and
cooperation.
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During the Chinese president's four-nation Arab-Africa tour the
host countries placed high value on China's status with the
international arena and considered China a major force in promoting
world peace and development.
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They praised China for playing a constructive role in international
affairs and pursuing impartial stands on relevant international
issues and hoped the country would play a greater role in Middle
East and African affairs.?
(Xinhua News Agency April 30, 2006)