The all-round transformation that China has witnessed over a not-so-long period is indeed fascinating. It is an outcome of right policies adopted by the Communist Party of China (CPC). 

As a Ugandan journalist, I have long been captivated by the stories about China and the people who visited the country before me.  

Especially, the country’s rapid transformation in the last decade brought about by the CPC leadership and programmes developed in the new era is indeed intriguing. 

I used to wonder how the country’s leadership has ensured stability and achieved broad-based transformation. The last three months I have been in Beijing have been quite revealing.  

I have observed that China is a highly secure society, in contrast to the stories of crime we hear elsewhere including in the Western capitals. This is a country where you can move around during the night and nobody will touch you, which is uncommon in many parts of the world. 

The secure environment ensured by the CPC governance has broadly worked as an advantage for the economy, especially tourism and adventure. 

The crisscrossing mega roads, railway networks, airports, and protected and beautified river banks across China, not just in big cities such as Beijing, all point to good leadership. The greening and the beatification of cities is an example of the praiseworthy work done by the CPC, under the guidance of the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. 

A recent lecture by a professor from the Renmin University of China on the CPC provided a real insight into some of aspects of this progress. 

According to the lecture, China has demonstrated that it is indeed possible to rise from underdevelopment to become a modern economy through hard work and mutual cooperation. 

It’s an undisputable fact that the country is making contribution at the global stage as a responsible country by securing peace partly through the peacekeeping missions, and supporting development visions of emerging economies such as Uganda. 

China has supported many African countries in the areas of infrastructure, education, health, agriculture, and human resources development, among others. 

I think China has shown that it is important for countries to define their own path and grow peacefully without subjugating others, which has drawn Africa closer to China. 

Africa continues to receive huge benefits from the CPC policies towards Africa in different aspects. 

China and Africa have continued to strengthen investment and trade on the basis of mutual respect and consultations under frameworks such as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). 

Under FOCAC, the 55 members have always adhered to the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and jointly agreed on the prioritised areas of cooperation. 

The Eighth Ministerial Conference of FOCAC in the Senegalese capital Dakar, which was convened on 29-30 November, 2021, pushed China-Africa cooperation further, covering health, poverty alleviation, trade, investment and digital technology through friendly consultations, which is in line with Africa’s expectation to promote China-Africa cooperation based on mutual respect.  

Wu Peng, director general of the Department of African Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, has since reiterated China’s commitment to the China-Africa cooperation framework agreed at the meeting.  

Since the establishment of FOCAC more than 20 years ago, both the total trade volume between China and Africa and China’s imports from Africa have increased by about 20 times. 

Under the FOCAC arrangement, in the next three years, China has pledged to import $300 billion worth of African goods, which is indeed a testimony to the good leadership of the CPC.  

The author is a reporter with The New Vision in Uganda