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original title: china-africa cooperation has achieved tangible results (international forum)

the 2024 beijing summit of the forum on china-africa cooperation has attracted worldwide attention. through this summit, africa and china will further strengthen cooperation and work together to build a high-level africa-china community with a shared future.

africa actively participates in the global development initiatives proposed by china. so far, the total number of projects in the global development project database exceeds 1,000, and more than 500 projects have been completed and are being implemented, of which more than one-third benefit african countries. the global development and south-south cooperation fund provides important support for africa and other developing countries to promote sustainable development. china will upgrade the fund and increase its capital to us$4 billion, which will better promote international cooperation in poverty reduction, public health, human resources, food security, digital connectivity, green development and other fields.

the "trade promotion project" is an important part of the "nine projects" of the forum on china-africa cooperation. in 2023, china-africa trade volume reached us$282.1 billion, an increase of nearly 11% compared with 2021. as of the end of june this year, china has implemented zero tariffs on 98% of tariff items originating from 27 least developed countries in africa. china has established a "green channel" for african agricultural products to be exported to china, and signed 22 protocols on the access of agricultural products to china with 14 african countries. these measures have woven a dense network of economic and trade cooperation between china and africa, effectively promoting the economic development of africa.

in terms of investment, by the end of 2023, china's direct investment in africa will exceed us$40 billion, making it one of the largest sources of foreign investment in africa. in the past three years, the economic and trade cooperation zones invested and built by chinese companies in africa have covered industries such as agriculture, processing and manufacturing, trade and logistics, attracting more than a thousand companies to settle in, making important contributions to local tax revenue and export earnings. with the formal establishment of the china-africa private investment promotion platform and the china-africa cross-border rmb center, the financial cooperation between the two sides has been continuously promoted, helping africa's sustainable development.

green development is a common pursuit of africa and china. africa and china actively implement the "china-africa green innovation plan" and the "china-africa green envoy plan" to support the construction of the "african green great wall". chinese companies help build renewable energy projects in africa, such as the songulu hydropower station in nigeria and the sakayi photovoltaic power station in the central african republic. these projects will help africa promote green and low-carbon transformation.

china has supported the development of african agriculture through various measures and helped africa to promote poverty reduction. under the framework of the "nine projects", the "poverty reduction and agricultural benefit project" has launched 47 poverty reduction and agricultural projects, including agricultural technical assistance to malawi, burundi and cote d'ivoire, and fully utilized the role of 24 agricultural technology demonstration centers in africa. more than 500 agricultural experts have been sent to provide nearly 700 million yuan in emergency food aid to more than 30 countries, including djibouti, gambia and mali.

capacity building has always been an important part of china-africa cooperation. china has worked with africa to launch the "african students employment express", set up a number of scholarship projects, established the south-south cooperation and development institute, and built 17 luban workshops in africa, training a large number of highly skilled talents for african countries.

at present, all aid and development cooperation projects under the "nine projects" have been implemented, making positive contributions to supporting africa's economic and social development and effectively promoting the development of china-africa relations. facts fully show that china-africa cooperation has achieved tangible results and benefited the people of africa and china.

(the author is the president of the south african national institute of administration) (busani ngkaweni)

(people's daily)