Government Documents

We, the Heads of State, Government and delegation of the People's Republic of China and 48 African countries, met in Beijing from 4 to 5 November 2006 for the 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 had 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.

(Source: Beijing Review NO. 46, NOVEMBER 16, 2006)