We, the heads of state, government and delegation of the
People's Republic of China and 48 African countries, met in Beijing
from November 4-5, 2006 for the Beijing Summit of the Forum on
China-Africa Cooperation.
We applaud the Summit held on the occasion of the 50th
anniversary of the inauguration of diplomatic relations between the
People's Republic of China and African countries.
For the purpose of promoting "friendship, peace, cooperation and
development," we have reviewed the sincere friendship, solidarity
and cooperation between China and Africa over the past half
century, and have fruitful discussions on the common goals and
direction for growing China-Africa cooperation in the new era.
Conscious of the fact that thanks to the concerted efforts of
both sides, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation founded in 2000
has become an important platform for collective dialogue and an
effective mechanism for pragmatic cooperation between the two
sides, we have decided to enhance the role of the Forum and to this
end, reaffirmed our commitment to the purposes and objectives set
forth in the documents adopted by the Forum.
We hold that the world today is undergoing complex and profound
changes, that human society is becoming increasingly
interdependent, and that the pursuit of peace, development and
cooperation has become the trend of the times and the priority of
all countries.
We declare that the development of our friendly relations and
cooperation are in accordance with the Five Principles of Peaceful
Coexistence as well as all the international principles that
promote multilateralism and democracy in international relations.
We urge that diversity of the world should be respected and upheld,
that all countries in the world, big or small, rich or poor, strong
or weak, should respect each other, treat each other as equals and
live in peace and amity with each other, and that different
civilizations and modes of development should draw on each other's
experience, promote each other and coexist in harmony.
Faced with the growing trend of economic globalization, we call
for enhancing South-South cooperation and North-South dialogue and
call on the World Trade Organization to resume the Doha Round of
negotiations to promote balanced, coordinated and sustainable
development of the global economy to enable all countries to share
its benefits and realize common development and prosperity.
We call for reform of the United Nations and other multilateral
international institutions to make them better meet the need of all
members of the international community. Through reform, the United
Nations should strengthen its role, give full scope to the function
of the UN General Assembly and pay greater attention to the issue
of development. Priority should be given to increasing the
representation and full participation of African countries in the
UN Security Council and other UN agencies.
We hold that the adherence of China, the largest developing
country, to peaceful development and the commitment of Africa, a
continent with the largest number of developing countries, to
stability, development and renaissance are in themselves
significant contribution to world peace and development.
The African countries are greatly inspired by China's rapid
economic development. They extend congratulations to China and wish
China greater achievements in its development endeavors. They
reiterate that they adhere to the one China policy and support
China's peaceful reunification.
China commends Africa's progress in safeguarding regional peace,
promoting regional cooperation and accelerating economic and social
development, appreciates the active role played by the African
countries, the African Union and other regional and sub-regional
organizations in this regard, reaffirms its support for the African
countries in their efforts to strengthen themselves through unity
and independently resolve African problems, supports the African
regional and sub-regional organizations in their efforts to promote
economic integration, and supports the? African countries in
implementing the "New Partnership for Africa's Development" (NEPAD)
programs.
We call on the international community to encourage and support
Africa's efforts to pursue peace and development and provide
greater assistance to African countries in peaceful resolution of
conflicts and post-war reconstruction. In particular, we urge the
developed countries to increase official development assistance and
honor their commitments to opening market and debt relief, and call
on the related international organizations to provide more
financial and technical assistance to enhance Africa's capacity in
poverty and disaster reduction and prevention and control of
desertification, and help Africa realize the UN Millennium
Development Goals. Greater attention should be paid to the issue of
development facing the least developed countries and the heavily
indebted poor countries as well as the small island and landlocked
countries in Africa.
We point out that China and Africa enjoy traditional solidarity
and cooperation and have always treated each other with sincerity
and shared weal and woe. Having stood the test of time and changing
international environment, China-Africa friendship is flourishing
and enjoys immense popular support.? We maintain that in the
new era, China and Africa have common development goals and
converging interests which offer a broad prospect for cooperation.
In the new century, China and African countries should enhance
their traditional friendship and expand mutually beneficial
cooperation to achieve common development and prosperity.
We hereby solemnly proclaim the establishment of a new type of
strategic partnership between China and Africa featuring political
equality and mutual trust, economic win-win cooperation and
cultural exchanges. For this purpose, we will:
Increase high-level visits, conduct strategic dialogue, enhance
mutual political trust and promote enduring friendship; Deepen and
broaden mutually beneficial cooperation, encourage and promote
two-way trade and investment, explore new modes of cooperation and
give top priority to cooperation in agriculture, infrastructure,
industry, fishery, IT, public health and personnel training to draw
on each other's strengths for the benefits of our peoples;
Increase exchange of views on governance and development to
learn from each other, make common progress and enhance our
respective capacity for self-development; increase dialogue between
different cultures, promote people-to-people exchanges and
interaction, particularly those between the young people, and boost
exchanges and cooperation in such areas as culture, science and
technology, education, sports, the environment, tourism and women
affairs;
Enhance international cooperation to jointly address global
security threats and non-traditional security challenges, and
uphold the common interests of the developing world in the spirit
of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and coordination;
Enhance the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, strengthen
collective dialogue and increase coordination and cooperation of
the Action Plan with NEPAD and the social and economic development
plans of African countries; and
Properly handle issues and challenges that may arise in the
course of cooperation through friendly consultation in keeping with
China-Africa friendship and the long-term interests of the two
sides.
We hold that the establishment of a new type of strategic
partnership is both the shared desire and independent choice of
China and Africa, serves our common interests, and will help
enhance solidarity, mutual support and assistance and unity of the
developing countries and contribute to durable peace and harmonious
development in the world.
We have, in the spirit of this Declaration, formulated and
adopted the Beijing Action Plan of the Forum on China-Africa
Cooperation (2007-09).
We commend the ministers participating in the Third Ministerial
Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation for their
dedicated efforts and outstanding work, applaud the outcome of the
High-Level Dialogue between Chinese and African leaders and
business representatives, and express our congratulations on the
full success of the Summit.
(China.org.cn)
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