The cooperation and common development between China and Africa will make an important contribution to enhancing the strength of developing countries, Chinese President Xi Jinping wrote in his congratulatory letter to the Coordinators' Meeting on the Implementation of the Follow-up Actions of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on the China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which convened in Beijing on Tuesday.

Xi sends congratulatory letter to follow-up meeting on FOCAC summit

FOCAC marks milestone for China-Africa cooperation

During last September's FOCAC Beijing Summit, President Xi announced that China would implement "eight major initiatives" with African countries over the next three years. The initiatives have covered major areas including infrastructure connectivity, trade facilitation, capacity building healthcare and people-to-people exchanges.

China's strength in infrastructure construction can assist Africa in boosting its economy, said Lin Jingzhen, executive vice president of the Bank of China Ltd.

Africa is a vast continent with endless resources, yet the level of its development requires improvement, Lin told CGTN, adding that the mass land has high demand in areas like resources exploration and allocation.

There has been an increase in investment from China, said Nabeela Tunis, minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Sierra Leone.  

Sierra Leonean FM thanks China for Ebola support

Cabinet Secretary for Kenyan Ministry of Transport Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development James Wainaina Macharia echoed Tunis' statement, saying the railway projects led by China have also brought positive impact in his country.  

Chinese involvement in Kenya can be seen everywhere

Trade facilitation

The Bank of China head said that cooperation between China and African countries has been very active, specifically in the economic sector.

Take China-Africa Development Fund as an example. Till June 2019, the fund has invested over 5 billion U.S. dollars to 36 African countries. These capitals have helped Chinese companies to integrate into the African continent. Estimates show that these companies can bring an investment of over 24 billion U.S. dollars.

Likewise, African products have gradually entered the Chinese market as well, as Macharia told CGTN, Kenyan avocados have entered the Chinese market.

According to the Kenyan official, China and Kenya have witnessed promising trade volume, specifically in agriculture. 

Healthcare

China has been offering help to upgrade "our health systems", Tunis said in an exclusive interview with CGTN, after recalling the horrible Ebola virus epidemic a few years ago.

Sierra Leone experienced the worst Ebola outbreak from 2014 to 2016, which killed thousands of people.

According to Tunis, China is the first country to respond to the crisis by providing not just equipment, but personnel as well. She said that assistance from China would be remembered by the people forever.

Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio has set healthcare as their priorities, under their human capital development initiative, one of the country's four national development agenda.

"China has been very supportive," she said, adding that the Asian country has not just helped build medical centers within her country, but offered opportunities for Sierra Leonean medical students to go out and learn.

"China has offered a lot of scholarships in public health," she said. "Our nationals are taking advantage of the opportunities that have been offered."

That, of course, has greatly promoted people-to-people exchanges of both sides as well.

Data show that roughly 1,300 Sierra Leone natives from all walks of life acquired the opportunities through Chinese government sponsorship in 2018, and that number continues to grow.

The foreign minister expressed her hope to maintain such close relationship with China, as well as "this friendship and trust... and the respect for sovereignty."

She hopes to see more people-to-people exchanges between the two sides in the future, to continue sharing experiences and learning from each other.