FROM GIVER TO PARTNER

By+Ding+Ying

About 2，500 years ago， Chinese phi- losopher Lao Tzu said， “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day； teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Now this ancient wisdom is being implemented to strengthen the China-Africa friendship in a modern context.

In early May， Chinese Premier Li Keqiang made his first state visit to Africa after taking office in March last year. Lis trip upgraded ChinaAfrica relations into “version 2.0，” in which traditional assistance programs will be supplemented by economic cooperation and cultural exchange.

Enriching relations

Premier Li visited Ethiopia， Nigeria， Angola， Kenya and the African Union （AU） headquarters from May 4 to 11， marking his first overseas visits this year and his first voyage to Africa since March 2013.

The global situation is far from what it was 50 years ago， when late Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai made his landmark visit to Africa. Lis tour sought to further advance the traditional friendship， promote practical cooperation， and boost the bilateral strategic partnership.

This voyage demonstrates the new leaderships commitment to the China-Africa relationship， said professor Huang Zequan with the African Studies Department at Peking University. “The friendly cooperation between the two sides will be continuously pushed forward， and generally be enriched with new concepts，” said Huang.

“Premier Lis visit cements Africas significant， fundamental and strategic status in Chinas overall diplomacy，” said professor Ji Mingkui with the National Defense University.

Li Zhibiao， a researcher on African studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences（CASS）， explained that the four African countries are either politically influential powers or major economies in Africa. Nigeria has the biggest population in Africa， and it has replaced South Africa as the continents top economy as its GDP in 2013 exceeded South Africas. Ethiopia， where the AU headquarters is located， has attracted many Chinese investors in recent years. Kenya has become one of the favorite tourist destinations in Africa for Chinese travelers. And Angola， an influential state in Southern Africa and also an oil producer， has been in close cooperation with China.

In his speech at the AU headquarters， Premier Li came up with a suggestion of developing bilateral relations in a 4-6-1 mode， which is considered the new leaderships practical implementation of Chinas new Africa policy. Unlike the simple mode of providing direct assistance to African nations in the past， China has worked harder to improve Africas competence in economic and cultural development， shifting its role from that of a giver to a partner. Moreover， China has enhanced its political relationship with these countries and bolstered economic cooperation with them.

Professor Yuan Gangming with Tsinghua University explained that the mode has been developed on the basis of long-term friendship and cooperation between China and Africa.“There will be a completely new outlook on bilateral cooperation leading to win-win outcomes and reciprocity，” Yuan said. He stressed that the platform of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation is significant in that it represents an upgrading of bilateral cooperation on both a mechanical and operative level.

Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Africa in 2013， during which he expounded on Chinas Africa policy and stressed Chinas commitment to cooperation with sincerity， real results， affinity and good faith.

Li Zhibiao believed that President Xis commitment pointed the way to China-Africa relations， and the four principles Premier Li suggested is a further step confirming Chinas determination to realize Xis pledge.

Referring to six areas of bilateral cooperation， he stressed， “Both China and Africa are at their respective crossroads of development in the new era. The six areas not only are of African countries general concern of participating in economic globalization based on independence， but also reflect Chinas practical interests of accelerating its economic transformation.”

He said that the core of the six key areas is cooperation in industry， while cooperation in the remaining five areas is meant to solve problems concerning financing， marketing， en-vironmental protection， personnel and security.

Cooperation in the six areas is Chinas midand long-term strategic plan of boosting ChinaAfrica cooperation.

Yang Lihua， a senior research fellow with the CASS， pointed out that the premiers speech showed the consistency of Chinas friendship with and its policy concerning Africa in the past 50 years. “During the last five decades， the China-Africa relationship has been bound by mutual respect and reciprocity. Our goal， approach and destination have been consistent in spite of changing circumstances，” said Yang.

Based on the similar target of fighting imperialism to gain national independence， the Chinese and African peoples started to support each other in the mid-20th century.

On October 25， 1971， China resumed its legal status in the United Nations with support from the developing world， including many African countries. Late Chinese leader Mao Zedong emphasized， “Its our African brothers that have carried us into the UN.”

The China-Africa relationship has entered a new phase since the beginning of the 21st century. In October 2000， the Forum on ChinaAfrica Cooperation was launched. In 2006， China and Africa agreed to upgrade their relationship to a new type of strategic partnership featuring political equality and mutual trust， economic win-win cooperation and cultural exchanges.

Two wheels of cooperation

About 60 cooperation documents were signed during Premier Lis Africa tour， covering fields like economic， cultural， agricultural， health and personnel training cooperation. This great achievement is also closely linked to the six areas that he proposed.

Yang believed that the Chinese premiers proposal is very encouraging. According to the new 4-6-1 mode， China will expand the scope of industrial cooperation by including trade， investment and infrastructure construction， she said. “China is at a crucial stage of industrial restructuring and transformation of its economic growth pattern. This is a good way to closely match Chinas development with Africas，” said Yang.

Premier Li also laid out the blueprint for increasing China-Africa trade volume to $400 billion by 2020. Yang believed such a goal is relatively conservative. In 2013， China-Africa trade reached $210 billion， 2，000 times that of 1960. China has been Africas biggest trading partner for the past five years； in addition， more than 2，500 Chinese companies are operating in Africa， creating over 100，000 jobs. According to a report by the International Monetary Fund， China-Africa cooperation has contributed to more than 20 percent of Africas development.

China and African countries have made progress in infrastructural construction， especially in railway projects. China is ready to expand cooperation with Africa in building roads， railways， telecommunications， power grids and other infrastructure so as to help the continent achieve regional interconnection， the Chinese premier said in his speech， adding that Beijing also encourages Chinese enterprises to form joint ventures with African counterparts in a bid to improve Africas regional aviation industry. During Premier Lis visit， China and Nigeria agreed on a coastal railway project worth $13.12 billion. The coastal railway will be of great strategic significance in promoting the economic development of the whole of West Africa and building a coastal economic corridor in the region.

The premier also depicted a vision of connecting African capitals with high-speed rail， saying that China is willing to use its worldleading technologies in this area to improve pan-African communication and development.

Nowadays， China has become a major railway equipment provider to Africa. Unlike previous assistance projects， todays railway construction ventures in Africa are mostly realized through commercial cooperation， which is targeted at greatly increasing African countrieslevel of technical proficiency through reciprocity. By 2013， China had built about 2，200 km of railways and 3，500 km of roads in Africa.

Professor Yuan said that the building of joint ventures is an excellent way to promote Africas self-sufficiency after adopting Chinas technology. This is a new cooperative mode， he said， as Chinas successful experience in building high-speed rail offers a vast continent like Africa the infrastructural technologies of which it is in urgent demand.

Traditional assistance projects will continue at the same time. Premier Li announced during his trip that China has decided to increase its loans for African countries by $10 billion， which brings the total pledged amount to $30 billion， and to expand the China-Africa development fund by $2 billion to $5 billion. Moreover， to help reduce poverty， China will train 2，000 agricultural technicians and management personnel for Africa in the coming five years， tilting its assistance toward such welfare areas as drinking water and prevention and control of epidemics.

The Chinese premier also emphasized the importance of cultural and people-to-people exchanges during his visit. In regards to people-topeople exchanges， he said China will carry out its “African talent plan” and will provide African countries with 18，000 government scholarships and help them train 30，000 various professionals. He also declared that China will offer South Sudan another 50 million yuan （$8 million） of humanitarian aid to help deal with their humanitarian crisis.

Premier Li praised Africas encouraging contributions to the world civilization and economy. Now a land full of vigor， Africa has reshaped itself into an important pole in world politics， a new pole in global economic growth and a colorful pole in human civilization， he said in his speech.

“African civilization， as an important part of a pluralistic global village， is worthy of our undivided attention，” Yang said.