Over the years, under the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China has followed the principle of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith, and the principle of pursuing the greater good and shared interests, and firmly supported African countries in improving infrastructure and connectivity for sustainable development, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Spokesperson Lin Jian made the remarks at a regular press conference in Beijing in response to a query regarding the important role high-quality Belt and Road cooperation has played in enhancing connectivity in African countries, noting that infrastructure lays a solid foundation for Africa's development and realizing connectivity is the common aspiration of African countries.
"Over the years, China and African countries have worked together to build and upgrade close to 100,000 kilometers of roads, more than 10,000 kilometers of railways, nearly 1,000 bridges and nearly 100 ports," Lin said.
"With the completion of projects, including the Mumbasa-Nairobi railway, the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway and the Benguela railway, the transportation efficiency between coastal and hinterland areas has been significantly improved. The Kribi Deep Seaport in Cameroon can accommodate vessels that carry more than 10,000 tonnes of cargo, bringing development opportunities for landlocked countries," Lin added.
Chinese companies have helped build more than half of Africa's wireless sites and high-speed mobile broadband networks, providing service for more than 900 million African people, he said, noting that 52 African countries and the African Union Commission have signed Belt and Road cooperation documents with China, striving to break their respective development bottlenecks.
"China stands ready to continue striving forward together with Africa on the road of win-win cooperation and common development, seek greater synergy between the BRI and the Agenda 2063 of the African Union as well as African countries' respective development strategies, let high-quality China-Africa cooperation on the BRI keep on shining, and bring China-Africa connectivity cooperation onto a fast lane," the spokesperson said.
(A file photo of laborers working to finish the construction of the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway track in Nairobi, Kenya, November 23, 2016. /CFP)