like-minded people walk hand in hand - china and africa promote modernization and open up a bright future
2024-09-08
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africa is an ancient land with vast expanses of land and magnificent scenery; africa is a young land that is striving to pursue its dreams and forge ahead on the road to modernization. after going through hardships and setbacks, the african people have been constantly exploring and seeking development solutions that meet their actual needs and their own characteristics.
what do african countries need most? bubale adrian bwanika, a reporter from uganda's new vision newspaper, who was covering the beijing summit of the forum on china-africa cooperation in beijing, said that what african people desire most is modernization, and the key to unleashing the huge potential of this continent lies in finding the right direction of development.
"we need financial support, but money is not the most important thing." bwanika said that more and more africans have realized that modernization does not mean westernization, but that they need to find a path that suits their own needs. he said that china is on the right path to modernization and is a good friend and role model for african countries. africans are very interested in how china solves poverty and how it balances environmental protection with development, and china-africa cooperation can bring many inspirations to africa.
on the eve of the beijing summit of the forum on china-africa cooperation, mwangi wachira, a former economist at the world bank, told reporters that he has been paying close attention to "chinese-style modernization". he said that chinese-style modernization is modern and even more chinese. this brings an important revelation to african countries: africa's modernization should also be in line with africa's development reality and have african characteristics.
wachira said that the tremendous achievements of china-africa cooperation have changed the face of the african continent. the key lies in taking into full consideration the actual development of each country. on the road of promoting modernization, china and africa share the same ideas and needs, and "china is an important partner of africa."
wachira chose "empathy" as the keyword for china-africa cooperation. he said that "empathy" means "china is willing to put its feet in the shoes of africans" - to understand africa's situation and needs. in the history of africa, it is difficult to meet a companion and collaborator like china.
“true friends are those who share the same journey.” many young africans realize the importance of chinese-style modernization and china-africa cooperation to africa, and come to china from africa to explore the path to modernization.
thomas, a doctoral candidate at the school of international relations at peking university, is from chad. he said that china promotes modernization based on its own reality rather than copying the western model, which is a concept that is particularly worth learning from africa. in addition, the concept of china-africa cooperation should also be extended to more developing countries and regions to provide strong support for global south-south cooperation.
over the past 20 years since the establishment of the forum on china-africa cooperation, china-africa practical cooperation has yielded fruitful results. in africa, local people have worked together with chinese builders to promote modernization and build a high-level china-africa community with a shared future.
in the democratic republic of the congo, edas luwaba kitua has worked for nearly a year at the manono lithium mine project invested and constructed by chinese companies. having worked in the fields of environmental protection and corporate governance for a long time, kitua has witnessed the tremendous changes that chinese companies have brought to the manono region.
kituwa told reporters that chinese companies have not only improved the modernization level of the local mining industry, but have also worked hand in hand with local people to build hydropower stations, roads and other infrastructure, driving the modernization of the social and economic life of the entire region. "china-africa cooperation has brought africa a long-term vision of harmonious coexistence and win-win development. on the road to modernization, africa and china help each other, showing broad development space and huge development opportunities."
habtamu worku, a 33-year-old ethiopian, described china-africa cooperation as "brotherhood". in recent years, the changes around him, such as the addis ababa-djibouti railway and the addis ababa light rail, have made worku realize that china not only helps african countries fill the infrastructure gap through professional technology, but also provides valuable reference for africa's modernization construction in terms of development concepts, institutional mechanisms, etc.
"modernization is a desire deeply rooted in the hearts of many africans." worku told reporters that in his eyes, modernization means prosperous cities with advanced infrastructure, high-quality education and medical care, and a vibrant industrial sector; in modern africa, tradition and innovation coexist harmoniously, and everyone has the opportunity to realize their own value.
the rapid development of china-africa cooperation has enabled volku and his african compatriots to see not only "revolutionary progress" but also the hope of achieving modernization.
the emblem of the forum on china-africa cooperation, "hands embracing", means that the chinese and african people are hand in hand, marching together towards a future full of hope. with resonance in ideas and mutual understanding in practice, the road of china and africa to jointly promote modernization will become wider and wider, which will surely set off a wave of modernization in the global south and jointly create a better future.
(xinhua news agency, beijing, september 6, reporters su liang and han liang)
guangming daily (page 05, september 7, 2024)
source: guangming daily
