INTERNATIONAL: President Xi Jinping on Monday has called for continued solidarity with African countries to forge ahead in building a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era in his keynote speech at the opening of the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) via video link in Beijing.

This year marks the 65th year of the start of diplomatic relations between China and Africa, the Chinese leader has said the two sides have forged unbreakable brotherly bond in their struggle against imperialism and colonialism, embarked on a distinctive path of cooperation in the journey toward development and rejuvenation, and written a splendid chapter of mutual assistance amidst of complex changes, setting a shining example for the building of a new type of international relations.

President Xi further says that the key to such a relationship and deep bond between the two sides lies in an everlasting spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation forged between them, which features sincere friendship and equality, win-win for mutual benefit and common development, fairness and justice, progress with the times, as well as openness and inclusiveness. This truly captures the relations of China and Africa working together through weal and woe over the past decades, and provides a source of strength for the continuous growth of China-Africa friendly relations.

Marking the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the lawful seat of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations, President Xi has expressed sincere appreciation to the many African friends who supported China back then. He has also solemnly reiterated that China will never forget the profound friendship of African countries and will work together with African friends to carry forward the spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation from generation to generation.

Over the past three years and more, China and Africa have worked together to fully implement the eight major initiatives and other major outcomes of the Beijing Summit, and completed a large of number of major cooperation projects. China-Africa trade and China's investment in Africa have been on a steady rise. Almost all African members of FOCAC have joined the big family of Belt and Road cooperation. All these have injected strong impetus into the China-Africa comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership.

President Xi put forth four proposals to build a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era.

First is to fight COVID-19 with solidarity. President Xi has stressed the need to put people and their lives first, be guided by science, support waiving intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines, and truly ensure the accessibility and affordability of vaccines in Africa to bridge the immunization gap.

Second is to deepen practical cooperation. China welcomes African countries' active participation in the Global Development Initiative.

Third is to promote green development. In the face of climate change, China has called for the need to advocate green and low-carbon development, actively promote solar, wind and other sources of renewable energy, work for effective implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change and keep strengthening capacity for sustainable development.

Fourth is to uphold equity and justice. The world needs true multilateralism. Peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom are common values of humanity and represent the abiding aspirations of both China and Africa. Both sides advocate a development path suited to their national conditions and are both committed to upholding the rights and interests of developing countries, oppose intervention in their internal affairs, racial discrimination and unilateral sanctions. Both need to unequivocally stand for the just propositions of developing countries and translate common aspirations and interests into joint actions.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       President Xi also announced that China will give another 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to African countries in order to achieve a goal of vaccinating 60 percent of the continent's population by 2022.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             The pledge of additional vaccine doses - on top of the nearly 200 million that China has already supplied to the continent - comes as concerns intensify over the spread of a new variant of the coronavirus, known as Omicron, which was first identified in southern Africa.

In a speech given via video link at the opening of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the Chinese leader has also mentioned a China-Africa cross-border Yuan Centre would be set up to provide African financial institutions with a credit line of $10 billion, without giving further details.