English.news.cn 2011-01-29
By Dan Ran, Liang Shanggang
ADDIS, ABABA, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- China and Africa are strengthening cooperation in global affairs amid the changing and ever more complicated international situation, Chinese Envoy and Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin told Xinhua in a recent interview.
Liu is here to attend the 16th African Union (AU) summit scheduled for Jan. 30-31.
According to Liu, China and Africa are stepping up communication and coordination in both bilateral and multilateral occasions. On the bilateral level, the two sides have maintained constant communication through high level visits, diplomatic consultations, and strategic dialogues concerning critical global affairs.
On the multilateral level, China and Africa are carrying out close cooperation under various multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations (UN), Liu said.
Meanwhile, China and Africa attach great importance to the development of cooperative mechanisms, Liu said. For example, under the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), the two sides have established the mechanism of political consultation between the foreign ministers of China and African countries. Moreover, China and AU have set up a strategic dialogue mechanism, under which three dialogues have already been carried out so far, the Chinese envoy said.
He added that China and African countries have also formed partnership in confronting climate change, and the two sides are still working to improve relative mechanisms in this field. At the same time, China has been providing development help for Africa, said Liu. In order to help Africa achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals, China has in recent years mapped out a series of cooperative measures under the framework of FOCAC and multilateral occasions such as the UN, so as to speed up Africa's development, he added.
Regarding to the upcoming AU summit to be held under the theme "Towards Greater Unity and Integration Through Shared Values," Liu said China hopes the meeting would help create new impetus for Africa's integration, and that China will support AU's strengthening role in African and global affairs.
The summit will gather heads of states and government from AU member states to discuss issues including Africa's integration, regional peace and security, among others.
