On July 26, 2010, Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo delivered a speech at the welcome banquet hosted by Zambian Vice-President George Kunda in honor of Dai’s visit to Zambia.

Dai said, “Zambia is an important and influential country on the continent of Africa and is a good friend, brother and partner of China in Africa. The Zambian government and people have been long pursuing a development path suited to your own national conditions, have overcome various risks and challenges all the way, and have maintained political stability, economic development and racial harmony all the time. The Zambian people, under the leadership of President Rupiah Banda and the Zambian government, braved difficulties and kept economy stable and growing at a relatively fast rate despite the tough challenges arising from the international financial crisis last year. Zambia becomes more stable, prosperous and confident and wins the respect of Africa and the world. We sincerely wish Zambia a brighter future. We firmly believe that with concerted efforts of both sides, China-Zambia relations will have a brighter future.”

“In the first decade of the 21st century, the world saw great change and great progress. One of the profound and significant changes is the rapid rise in the strength and influence of developing world. Over the past few years I visited over 20 African countries and I deeply felt that the last decade is a decade when Africa made great strides. The situation in Africa today is much more ‘stable’. Wars and conflicts gradually dispersed in Africa. A new era of peace and stability is coming. The development of Africa today is much ‘faster’. Africa has maintained a continuous growth rate of more than 5%. Africa is filled with the atmosphere of vigor and vitality for development. Africa today is much ‘stronger’. Africa has a common awareness of unity and self-reliance and has made significant progress in the integration process. Africa today is much ‘sweeter’. The voice of Africa becomes stronger and stronger in the international arena and the status and influence of Africa are rising in the world. The success of 2010 World Cup in South Africa is a landmark event for the African renaissance. Just as indicated in the theme song of 2010 World Cup, the time has come for Africa. We are sincerely happy about it and convinced that the African countries and people are able to run Africa affairs well. If the 20th century is a century for African ‘liberation’, the 21st century will be a century for Africa's ‘peaceful development’.”

“In the last decade China-Africa relations witnessed substantial development. The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation was created and grew with far-reaching influence. Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation was successfully held. The relationship between China and Africa in all fronts including politics, economy and culture grew profoundly. The pragmatic cooperation reached unprecedented width and depth. The trade volume grew exponentially from USD10 billion to a historical level of USD100 billion. The people-to-people exchanges became more frequent. The mutual understanding and friendship got deeper. All these are the result of the concerted efforts of generations of Chinese and African people. Please allow me to take this opportunity here to pay our highest tribute and express our heartfelt thanks to all friends and predecessors for their painstaking efforts to the cause of China-Africa friendship through you.”

As China-Africa relations are developing buoyantly and the African people are happy with such development, some people claimed that that China is not a developing country, China doesn’t need Africa, China attaches no importance to Africa any more and China wants to co-rule the world with someone. What’s worse is that some people even claimed that China is re-taking the old path of Western colonialism in Africa. “My friends, doesn’t that sound like the myth? I am sure you are all clear that this is not a fact and this will not happen. So why would someone say so? It only shows that China-Africa cooperation is running toward the right direction and we should continue to move on!”

Dai said, “My friends, you all probably know that since the reform and opening over 30 years ago, China did make remarkable achievements in economic and social development. But these achievements must be shared by the 1.3 billion Chinese people. China so far has nearly 140 million people living below the poverty line and more than 80 million people with disabilities. China's per capita GDP ranks 104th in the world and lags behind many African countries. China is still a genuine developing country. Some people may not believe this because they only saw big cities like Beijing and Shanghai and haven’t seen remote, mountainous and poor regions like my hometown Guizhou and haven’t seen many problems China faces. Even when China becomes stronger in the future, we will remain a member in the developing world. We will continue to stand together in solidiary and cooperation with the African brothers and developing countries for common development. We will never change our mind.”

The basic standing and starting point of China’s foreign policy is always based on the solidarity and cooperation with developing countries including African countries. This is due to the fact that China and Africa share common historical sufferings, militant friendship, development tasks and strategic interest. They will not change with the development of China’s economy, the change of China’s international status or the change of international situation. No matter how the time changes, China will always regard African countries as the most sincere and trust-worthy friends, partners and brothers. “We are fully aware that China-Africa friendship was jointly developed by Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and the old generations of African statesmen. It is our common valuable political assets and our unique strategic advantages. We have every reason to cherish it, maintain it and grow it.”

“That does not mean we are perfect and we don’t need to make any improvement in the process of developing relations with our African brothers. We welcome any good-will critical opinions and suggestions. But we can honestly say that China's cooperation with Africa is open and aboveboard. China respects the sovereignty of African countries and the development paths they choose and never interferes in their internal affairs; China treats them as equals and conducts cooperation with them on the basis of mutual benefit and win-win results. China provides Africa with sincere and friendly assistance with no political conditions affiliated and always believes that the assistance and support between China and Africa are mutual. China always integrates our development into the development of Africa and advances the development of African countries with our development. Africa is the African people’s continent. China neither seeks for the so-called ‘sphere of influence’ in Africa nor has any intention to have malicious competition with other countries in Africa.”

Dai stressed, “We would like to see other countries in the world treat Africa countries on an equal basis, help Africa develop in good faith, and promote stability and prosperity in Africa. The hat of so-called "new colonialism" can never be worn on the head of China. My friends, no matter what they say, we China will unswervingly follow the principle of mutual respect, equal treatment, mutually-beneficial cooperation, and common development when handling the relations with Africa. China will never take the old path of the Western colonialism and imperialism. We have no such a policy, such a tradition, or such a gene. What we have is only a warm heart of cordial friendship to Africa.”

China-Africa friendly cooperation conforms to the development trend of world multi-polarization and economic globalization and is in line with the fundamental interest of the Chinese and African people, which account for one third of the world’s population. Development is the hard truth. “We are willing to work with African friends to seize opportunities and overcome obstacles, focus on the sustainable development of China-Africa friendly cooperation at a higher level in the 21st century and achieve common prosperity.”

To promote the continuous development of China-Africa cooperation, Dai believed that:

— the most important foundation for the constant development of China-Africa cooperation is to inherit and grow the traditional friendship and adhere to the principles of mutual respect, equal treatment, mutual benefit and win-win results；

— the fundamental means is to expand and deepen equal and mutually-beneficial cooperation and fulfill the grand goals of China’s and Africa’s development and rejuvenation;

— the most urgent task is to improve the livelihood of African people, improve their self-development capability, and execute the UN millennium development goals;

— the long-lasting driver is to increase people-to-people exchange, learn development experiences from each other, conduct human resources training, increase mutual understanding and cultivate young generations who know each other and treat each other as friends; and

— the most important thing is to keep abreast with the times and spearhead innovation. We should continue to carry forward what we have been doing well, make improvement on what we have not done well, innovate on what requires innovation in accordance with actual conditions and needs, and properly resolve problems that occur through friendly negotiations.

Dai concluded, “Today in the 21st century I visit Africa. Wherever I go, I can see that every place is seeking for development and discussing cooperation. Indeed, the African people are great people. Africa is a promising continent. I am confident about the future of Africa and the future of China-Africa relations. I firmly believe that the giant ship of the new type of China-Africa strategic partnership, which was established on the basis of solid friendship and common interest, will ride on the crest of the waves toward a brighter future for the benefit of the people of China, Africa and the world at large.”