By Ijeoma Agbafo
The People’s Republic of China has assured African countries that all outcomes of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Beijing Summit will be fully implemented before the next ministerial meeting, reaffirming that Africa remains an equal partner in the cooperation framework.
Mr Shuai Guipeng, Deputy Director of the FOCAC Office at China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the assurance in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Beijing. He said the partnership was founded on equality, mutual respect and shared responsibility, rather than a donor-recipient relationship, adding that implementation of the summit’s resolutions was progressing smoothly.
Guipeng said China and African countries were jointly executing projects under the FOCAC framework, citing the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway in Kenya as an example of sustainable cooperation through joint operation and long-term management, rather than one-off infrastructure delivery.
He acknowledged that the main challenge was the large number of projects to be completed within a limited timeframe. Still, he expressed confidence that all commitments would be fulfilled before the next ministerial meeting. He added that implementing FOCAC agreements had become part of the Communist Party of China’s internal performance assessment for officials.
He reiterated that China regarded African countries as active partners in development cooperation, not merely recipients of aid, and assured them of the country’s continued commitment to successfully delivering all agreed projects.
