South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Benjamin Takpiny, Beijing China
The Chinese government has expressed readiness to encourage more Chinese enterprises to invest in the Horn of Africa, in a bid to increase value addition to locally manufactured goods and local content to boost economic growth in the region.
Ambassador Xue Bing, the Chinese Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Affairs said during press briefing to foreign journalists on the sidelines of the Second Horn of Africa Peace Conference in Beijing, that the Horn of Africa countries need peace, development and solidarity more than ever before.
“China has reaffirmed its willingness to be a strong partner and fellow pioneer of the Horn of Africa, and set together an example to follow for China-Africa and South-South cooperation,” Xue said.
He encouraged the Horn of Africa countries to make full and effective use of preferential trade arrangements such as green lanes for African agricultural exports to China and tariff exemptions or platforms such as China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo in order to increase exports to China.
photo: courtesy of ministry of Foreign Affairs
Xue reaffirmed Beijing’s willingness to support high-quality Belt and Road cooperation with the Horn of Africa countries, to deepen cooperation in traditional areas such as the medical and health field, poverty alleviation, agriculture development, trade and investment and widen cooperation in new areas such as green development, digital economy, information and communication technologies and artificial intelligence.
He said that the Horn of Africa should take advantage of the opportunities offered at the upcoming 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) to be held in Beijing, to discuss new measures of cooperation and inject stronger dynamics into the outlook on peace and development in the Horn of Africa, and turn the region into Horn of peace, development and prosperity thus building a China-Africa community with shared future of high level.
“We should continue to be partners and fellow pioneers on the path to preserving peace. Peace is in the DNA of China’s diplomacy. Seven decades ago, China put forward to five principles on peaceful coexistence, opening a new path for settling international disputes. These principles have been widely applauded and followed by the international community,” Xue said.
He noted that Beijing stands ready to work with the countries in the Horn of Africa region to enhance dialogues and mutual trust, deepen mutual understanding through policy communication, solve adequately the disputes in the region and build together a broader vision of peace and security.
“We should continue to be partners and fellow pioneers on the path to common development. Development is the key to solving all problems, and also our common task. We are ready to work with the Horn of Africa countries in the light of implementing the Global Development Initiative, to build high-quality Belt and Road, on the one hand deepen cooperation in traditional areas such as infrastructure, agriculture, energy, mining and manufacturing industry,” Xue said.
The Second Senior Officials Meeting of the Second Horn of Africa Peace Conference convened in Beijing on Monday, with officials from China and African countries vowing to push forward bilateral cooperation to achieve more new results and benefit the people of both sides.
The event was attended by the Vice Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong, Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Affairs Xue Bing from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, representatives from the Ministry of Commerce and the China International Development Cooperation Agency, and senior officials and diplomats from the foreign ministries of Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda.
Participants positively evaluated China’s proposals and thanked China for its contributions. They also engaged in in-depth and frank exchanges on the next steps to promote regional peace and development.
All parties agreed to focus on the five areas of peace, security, development, cooperation, and governance, to push forward bilateral cooperation to achieve more new results and better benefit the people of both sides.
The Initiative of Peaceful Development in the Horn of Africa, is a Chinese solution proposed by China at the beginning of 2022 to assist the peace and development process in the Horn of Africa. It aims to support regional countries in achieving long-term stability and development prosperity through unity and self-strengthening.
