Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's visit to China will culminate in him attending the inaugural China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo. President Xi Jinping met him for bilateral talks in Beijing on Tuesday. CGTN reporter Su Yuting sat down and spoke with Museveni for more on China-Africa cooperation.

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Su: You've attended the Coordinators' Meeting on the Implementation of the Follow-up actions of the FOCAC Beijing Summit, and you've also delivered a very inspiring speech during the opening ceremony. Could you please tell us what are your prospects for the development of cooperation between China and Uganda, and also cooperation between China and Africa?

Museveni: What I told the people was that in the modern economy, you have two players, the producer and consumer. If you have a producer, but you don't have a consumer, the business will collapse. 

Therefore, it's very important for China and Africa, and all the people in the world who know they are talking about that we promote international trade, because when I buy what you produce, I support your prosperity. I support your factory, you can sell more, create more jobs and more money, pay more taxes to the government. And government is now also able to do other things, and vise versa. If you also buy from me, it's the same. You helped me in the same way. 

Therefore, it's important for all countries to understand that dynamic of prosperity through trade, it's mutual support. You support me, and I support you. That's what the relationship now China and Africa is, and should be. So therefore, this relationship is very important for our common prosperity.

Su: President Xi Jinping also unveiled eight initiatives during the 2018 FOCAC Beijing Summit. And one year on, what do you think are the new changes and opportunities the implementation of the initiatives has brought to Uganda and the whole African continent?

Museveni: If you read through my speech, I talked about those eight initiatives; one I can remember is the infrastructure connectivity. That's what President Xi Jinping called it. But it has been on the bottleneck, one of the blockages for Africa's development, lack of roads, lack of the railway system, lack of electricity, and that was one of the target of President Xi Jinping's proposal last year. 

In the case of Uganda and East Africa, Chinese are working with us, to develop the railway system, the modern railway, the Standard Gauge Railway and also electricity. We have done two dams with China. So it's moving very well.

Su: And you have also mentioned the importance of infrastructure cooperation, especially with the hydro-power plant. Could you please tell us more about those projects?

Museveni: We have completed one dam, one hydro-dam, called Isimba; We are about to complete another one called Karuma, and then the Standard Gauge railway, which we are now working on with Kenya, our neighboring country, and some of the roads. That's all part of the infrastructure.

Su: And we know that President Xi Jinping also stressed the FIVE NOs during the Beijing FOCAC Summit, which in specific are "no interference with development paths, no interference in internal affairs, no imposing one's will on others, and no attaching political conditions, and no political self-interest in investment and financing. What's your response to that? And how do you evaluate the significance of these FIVE NOs?

Museveni: I support those points. They are part of the Bandung Conference of 1955, which was attended by Zhou Enlai. The Bandung Conference that emphasized those points don't interfere internal affairs of other countries. You do the good things, and people will learn from you. This is the correct way. That's what President Xi Jinping is saying, don't impose your will on other people. People know what to do. If they made mistakes, they will learn from their own mistakes. Just to do what you think is right, and then cooperate, where there are minimum interests.

Su: Against the backdrop of unilateralism and rising protectionism, what do you think is the significance of building a community with a shared future between China and Africa. And what will that mean for the rest of the world?

Museveni: Protectionism will not succeed, it will fail. Fragmentation will actually lead to two things: We will win less prosperity, and more inefficiency, and undermine the purchasing power of the population by forcing them to buy things which are very expensive, just because they are made within that country.

Su: So multilateralism is quite important. And we know that in Changsha, Hunan Province, there will be the first China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo. So that will be a great opportunity for both China and Uganda, and many other African countries to gather together to focus on trade and economic cooperation. What's your expectation on that expo?

Museveni: It is to expose, to show that the two sides, what is available here and what's available there. It's to share information, so that we can decide it together better.