Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has reiterated China's commitment to strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation with Africa in order to assist the continent to achieve independent and sustainable development, and eliminate poverty at an early date.
The Foreign Minister made the remarks on Wednesday at the opening of the China-Africa high-level dialogue and think tank forum on poverty reduction and common development, at the AU headquarters in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.
Stating that almost 400 million people still live under poverty line in Africa and that more than 40 million Chinese remain to be lifted out of poverty, Wang underlined the need for China and Africa to join hands in fighting poverty and achieving common development.
Wang said under the leadership of the Communist Party of China and by sticking to the reform and opening-up policy, China has managed to lift more than 700 million people out of poverty over the past 40 years. By doing this, China has contributed 70 percent to the UN's millennium development goal (MDG) on poverty reduction, and created a miracle in the world's development history.
According to Wang, with these achievements, China is willing to share experiences with Africa on poverty reduction and development.
He said that Chinese President Xi Jinping had announced ten major cooperation plans during the 2015 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit in Johannesburg, one of which is poverty reduction and development.
Wang said the FOCAC Johannesburg summit outcomes as well as the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China have provided "historic opportunities" for China-Africa cooperation.
"We stand ready to seize the opportunities presented by the Belt and Road Initiative, synergize the ten cooperation plans with the Agenda 2063 and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, to support African countries in achieving independent and sustainable development and eliminating poverty at an early date," Wang said.
Speaking on the occasion, Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the AU Commission, said that China and Africa have been enjoying varied and multifaceted cooperation, which has been demonstrated in the development of Africa's infrastructure, energy, and human capacity building, among others.
The Chairperson said that China's success story in reducing poverty reduction substantially is a good lesson that Africa is keen to learn from.
He also underlined the need to explore other areas and further diversify the cooperation between the two sides.
