A CHINA-AFRICA SAGA: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (third left, front row) and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (fourth left, front row) co-chair the opening ceremony of the fourth ministerial conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on November 8 (LI TAO)

While the international community wonders what China can offer African countries as they face the crippling worldwide economic recession, China has offered a genuine surprise.

At the fourth ministerial conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held at Egypt's Red Sea resort Sharm el-Sheikh, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao declared eight new measures to strengthen Sino-African cooperation. These include helping Africa build up its financing capacity, providing $10 billion in concessional loans to African countries and supporting Chinese financial institutions in setting up a special loan of $1 billion for small and medium-sized African businesses.

This represents an anticipated follow-up to the measures announced at the Beijing Summit of the FOCAC in November 2006 by Chinese President Hu Jintao, on behalf of the Chinese Government.

To implement the eight measures put forward in 2006, China established a follow-up committee, headed by the director general of the Department of African Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Resources from China's Ministry of Commerce indicate that all the commitments made at the Beijing Summit have been basically implemented so far.

"China has been always committed to implementing its commitments [made at the Beijing Summit of the FOCAC]," said Jean Ping, Chairman of the African Union Commission in an interview with Beijing Review, adding that his commission appreciates the effective implementation of the FOCAC Beijing Action Plan of 2007-09.

Battered by the global financial crisis, Africa's gross domestic product growth rate of nearly 6 percent, which had been maintained for five successive years, dropped to 3 percent in 2008. Nonetheless, China's trade and investment with Africa has remained steady in recent years.

"I am very glad to see the development of the new type of strategic partnership between China and Africa," Ping said. "The FOCAC is increasingly serving as a good platform for collective dialogues and will more effectively promote cooperation between Africa and China."

A series of figures released by Chen Deming, China's Minister of Commerce, back up what Ping had said. In 2008, bilateral trade between China and Africa exceeded $106.8 billion—twice the figure in 2006—with an annual growth rate of 30 percent in the past three years.

Meanwhile, more than 1,000 Chinese companies currently have investment in Africa.

The concessional loans of $3 billion and preferential export buyers' credit of $2 billion China promised at the FOCAC Beijing Summit, according to Chen, will be implemented by the end of this year. The China-Africa Development Fund, meanwhile, has invested more than $500 million so far for 27 projects, promoting Chinese companies' investments in Africa.

As committed at the FOCAC Beijing Summit, China forgave 168 individual debts from 33 African countries. By early November, all the procedures related to the debt exemption had been completed. To date, Chinese companies have constructed six economic and trade cooperation zones in five African countries.

Measures

As the previous eight measures have been implemented, it is natural for China and African countries to expect new measures to boost Sino-African cooperation for the next three years.

The eight new measures announced by Wen appear poised to have significant implications against the backdrop of the world economic recovery. The ministerial conference also adopted the Declaration of Sharm el-Sheikh and the Sharm el-Sheikh Action Plan (2010-12) as charter documents for the future cooperation.

The latest measures put more emphasis on improving the living standards of African people, Wen said at a press conference in Sharm el-Sheikh.