China will continue working together with African nations to push the China-Africa cooperation forward despite all ups and downs of global economic situations, said a Chinese envoy.
La Yifan, Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia, said that the Coordinators' Meeting on the Implementation of the Follow-up Actions of the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), held on July 29 in Beijing, convened in a manner further promoting the cooperation between China and Africa.
He said the two sides have inked a number of new agreements during the Beijing meeting, showing the dynamic development of China-Africa cooperation.
The ambassador made the remarks on Wednesday during a ceremony in its embassy to award the Chinese Government 2016/17 scholarship to Ethiopian students, who will be pursuing their postgraduate studies of masters and PhD programs in China.
La said the Beijing meeting deliberated on ways of jointly pushing forward the implementation of the follow-up actions of the Johannesburg Summit of FOCAC.
The Summit opened a new era of win-win cooperation and common development between China and Africa, and was a milestone in the history of China-Africa relations, said Chinese President Xi Jinping in his message to the Coordinators' Meeting.
Over the past six months, China and Africa have worked together to overcome the negative impact of the sluggish world economy, reached consensus on jointly implementing the outcomes of the summit, and achieved tangible results, Xi said.
"It is not the end; it is a new beginning. We believe this South-South cooperation between China and African countries. We could work together to overcome the downward pressure of the world economy and moving forward," said La.
"China will continue working together with African countries, with Ethiopia, despite all ups and downs of the current economic situations," he added.
Recalling that China would host the G20 summit in Hangzhou next month, La expressed China's commitment to using the summit as a platform for deliberation on issues of sustainable development in Africa.
"We certainly believe that it is not the club of the wealth and most powerful; it is the club that should pay attention to development of the south, so for that purpose we have to make sure to take on board the achievements of sustainable development goals, in particular African countries, as one of the component of the G20 summit," said the ambassador.
"We will always work together with the countries in the South to achieve common progress, common prosperity," he added.
