UN secretary-general lauds China's role in rising Africa

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has highlighted the importance of China-Africa collaboration ahead of his trip to the 2018 Beijing summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

China's cooperation is a very important instrument for Africa's development, and with the importance of the Chinese economy, the economic cooperation between China and Africa gains very important strategic value, Guterres told CGTN in an interview on Thursday.

He said China's cooperation with Africa is not only aimed at economic cooperation but also is an important pathway to improve global development patterns, global governance and the healthy development of economic globalization.

In such a highly integrated time, the world needs to strengthen connectivity through investment in ports, roads, railways and telecommunications, many of which are associated with the Belt and Road Initiative, he said.

Connectivity is at the center of all concerns for the African continent, he added.

A machine lays the track at the construction site of Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) in Nairobi, Kenya, June 23, 2018. /VCG Photo

Last year, China-Africa trade volume grew to 170 billion US dollars from just 765 million US dollars in 1978.

China's investment in Africa rose over 100 billion US dollars in 2016, growing over 100 times compared with the figure in 2004.

Some 3,100 Chinese enterprises have invested in Africa.

A number of major Chinese-assisted infrastructure projects, such as the railway connecting landlocked Ethiopia with Djibouti, Mombasa-Nairobi railway in Kenya and Maputo Cross-sea Bridge in Mozambique, exemplify the tangible benefits brought by cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.

The FOCAC summit starts from Sept. 3 to 4 in Beijing. /VCG Photo

Speaking of the UN role, Guterres said the UN can be useful to make sure that Chinese-African cooperation has the maximum possible positive impact in African countries.

The UN supports African governments in the ways of improving their governance, managing public finance and debt and preventing tax evasion, money laundering and international illicit flows of capital, he stressed.

The FOCAC summit, themed "China and Africa: toward an even stronger community with a shared future through win-win cooperation" begins from Sept. 3 to 4 in Beijing.