Chinese FM meets African envoys

BEIJING, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday met with African diplomatic envoys in China and celebrated Africa Day together in Beijing.

Ambassadors or charge d'affaires of more than 50 African countries to China and representatives of the African Union in China attended the meeting.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said since entering the new era, President Xi Jinping has visited Africa five times and put forward the principle of China's Africa policy -- sincerity, real results, amity and good faith, and the principle of pursuing the greater good and shared interests, as well as the spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation, raising China's bilateral relations with all African countries to the level of strategic relations.

The overall positioning of China-Africa relations has also been upgraded to an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era, and China's relations with Africa have entered the best period in history, Wang added.

At the Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Beijing last September, President Xi put forward six proposals and 10 partnership actions for jointly advancing modernization.

China is ready to use the upcoming ministerial meeting of coordinators for the implementation of the forum outcomes as an opportunity to implement the consensus reached by the leaders of both sides, set a benchmark for high-quality cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, create a model for implementing the Global Development Initiative, and accelerate the common modernization of China and Africa, Wang said.

Wang pointed out that the more turbulent the international situation is, the more China and Africa need to strengthen solidarity and cooperation, jointly oppose power politics, advocate multilateralism, safeguard the international system with the United Nations at its core, and jointly promote the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment.

China will, as always, firmly support the just position of African countries and firmly support Africa in playing a greater role on the international stage, Wang noted.

The African envoys said that African countries are deeply inspired by the series of global initiatives and the 10 partnership actions proposed by President Xi, and they are full of confidence in Africa-China cooperation.

The African countries will firmly abide by the one-China principle, support all efforts made by China to safeguard its sovereignty and achieve national reunification, and oppose interference in China's internal affairs, said the envoys, adding that the African countries will jointly safeguard the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and defend the common interests of countries in the Global South with China.