African Union Chairman Jean Ping (XINHUA)

Ding Bangying: After attending the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 and now the Shanghai Expo, what is your opinion of China staging these global events?

Jean Ping: China is making a lot of progress in many fields, not only in the economic field but also in areas like the Beijing Olympic Games. It was a big event, which I attended. It was very impressive. Then you have this Shanghai Expo. This is an international fair and Africa has been presenting its products there at this fair. We had stands not only for each country but also for Africa as a continent. It was very successful for us. Visitors came to see the African Pavilion. I think this is a big event not only for China but also for us to let our countries and products be known widely.

In your capacity as AU Chairman what do you think of the current state of relations between China and Africa?

I think that there are a certain number of elements that are important for the African countries. These are trade, investment, and also assistance. I think the relations between China and Africa have been improved slightly due to certain factors. So I would say that Africa is developing with the China factor.  

Concerning trade, one is the Chinese products. Their exports are cheap for everybody. What we need is cheap products because we are poor countries, so this is good for us. Second, we export for the moment mainly raw materials. And the price of raw materials, which has been declining for decades, is now increasing due to the high demand and necessity for China to supply its rapidly developing economy with raw materials. So these two factors, the price of raw materials moving up and the price of manufactured products moving down is good for us.

Also we need investment. Today, investments are welcomed everywhere in the world. Developing countries and even developed countries can make improvements after the economic crisis. So investment in infrastructure is today the first priority of the world, not only Africa. And Africa certainly needs infrastructure more than any other region to improve our agriculture. So this is the time for a big push on infrastructure. Generally, China is increasing its investments in Africa, building roads, hospitals and so on, and through these China does indeed help Africa.  

What are your views on the development of trade between China and Africa?

We always attach importance to improved trade with China, because we need access to the big Chinese market. Not only the developed countries, but Africa also needs access to the big Chinese market, in addition to other developed markets like America and Europe. I am very appreciative that China declared to exempt importation tax for many poor African countries earlier this year.  So if taxes are exempted and reduced, it is much better to improve our commercial and trade relationships with China as well as the rest of world.

What is the current state of cooperation between Africa and China as well as the rest of world?

Well, you see there are two ways of working with African countries for everyone, including China. First, it is to have individual bilateral cooperative relations between each of our countries and China. That is what we have been doing for many many years. And this is good because it is what the African individual countries are doing with the rest of world.

There are a certain number of areas where the need is there for multilateral relations, which means working with Africa as a whole. Individually and collectively, cooperation is needed. Individually means with each country. Collectively means with the African Union. So we are moving fast to tackle collective issues.

When talking about issues like trade, this is an issue where Africa could have a stronger voice if we speak collectively. In something like climate change, if African countries spoke individually we will be certainly less effective. China has been doing very well with us both individually and collectively.