President Jiang Zemin paid a state visit to Kenya, Egypt, Ethiopia, Mali, Namibia and Zimbabwe from 8 to 22 May 1996 at the invitation of Heads of State of the six countries. Vice Premier of the State Council and the then Foreign Minister Qian Qichen accompanied President Jiang on his visit. This was a visit that Chinese top leader paid with the whole of Africa in his mind and it was therefore of great significance. During his visit, President Jiang was accorded a very warm welcome and a grand and friendly reception by the peoples and governments of all the six countries. Furthermore, President Jiang exchanged views with heads of state or government and Parliament leaders of these countries on the African and international situation, bilateral relations, economic cooperation, trade and other issues, and they reached broad consensus on these issues.


During his African tour, President Jiang systematically expounded, on behalf of the Chinese Government, China's African policy in the new period. Its main thrust is to strengthen solidarity and cooperation with African countries and work together with them to contribute to the lofty cause of world peace and development. The guiding principle that China follows in developing relations with African countries in the new situation is: "to treat each other as equals, develop sincere friendship, strengthen solidarity and cooperation, and seek common development." China's African policy in the new period mainly contains the following elements:


to respect the choices of road to development made by African people themselves;


to abide by the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence and non-interference in the internal affairs of African countries;


to respect all countries and treat them as equals, irrespective of their size, strength and wealth;


to support African countries in their just struggle to maintain national independence, state sovereignty and territorial integrity and oppose foreign interference;


to promote unity among African countries and advocate settlement of disputes among them, if any, through peaceful negotiation;


to uphold justice and help safeguard the rights and interests of African countries in international affairs;


to continue to provide economic aid to African countries without attaching any political strings; and


to stick to the principle of equality and mutual benefit in its economic cooperation and trade with African countries.


China is ready to develop extensive exchanges and cooperation with African countries and hopes that the two sides will learn from each other and draw upon each other's experience. It respects the national independence of African countries, their habits, customs and traditions and opposes racial discrimination.


During his visit to Ethiopia, President Jiang was invited to make a keynote speech at the Headquarters of the Organization of African Unity, which was entitled Toward A New Historical Milestone of Sino-African Friendship. In his speech, he put forward a five-point proposal for the development of a 21st century-oriented long-term stable China-Africa relationship of all-round cooperation. The proposal includes the following points:


to foster a sincere friendship between the two sides and become each other's reliable "all-weather friends";


to treat each other as equals and respect each other's sovereignty and refrain from interfering in each other's internal affairs;


to seek common development on the basis of mutual benefit;


to enhance consultation and cooperation in international affairs; and


to look into the future and create a more splendid world.


During his African tour, China signed more than 20 agreements with the six African countries on trade and economic, technical and cultural cooperation.


President Jiang's elaboration of China's African policy and his proposal give a profound expression to the shared aspirations of both the Chinese and African peoples. They have therefore received extensive and positive response from African countries and peoples. President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe told us that African people were very pleased to hear China reiterate its African policy. He said that the mutual non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries that China had advocated was a principle established in the UN Charter and that only by observing this principle could states establish normal and friendly relations among them and safeguard their state sovereignty and territorial integrity. President Sam Nujoma of Namibia expressed his appreciation of China's African policy. He said that the fact that President Jiang made this African trip fully demonstrated that China attached great importance to its solidarity and cooperation with African countries and that Jiang's visit would help bring the friendly relations and cooperation between China and African countries into a new stage. President Muhammed Hosni Mubarak of Egypt said that in the absence of any problems in their relations, China and Egypt could understand and support each other without any hindrance. He hoped that the two countries would increase exchanges of experience in their respective economic reforms and explore new channels to expand their economic cooperation and trade. President Dr. Negasso Gidada of Ethiopia stressed that President Jiang's visit was another important milestone in the bilateral relations and that it would definitely contribute to closer cooperation between China and Ethiopia and between China and Africa. All the six countries have firmly supported China's great cause of national reunification and voiced their support to China's position on the Taiwan question.