Chinese FM to visit five African countries in first overseas trip of 2017

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is to pay his first overseas visit this year from January 7 to 12, visiting five African countries including Madagascar, Zambia, Tanzania, Republic of the Congo and Nigeria.

For over two decades it has become custom for the Chinese foreign ministers to make their first official trip of the year a visit to Africa, because China’s diplomacy is rooted in enhancing relations with developing countries, especially in Africa.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang answers questions in a regular press briefing on January 3, 2017. /MOFA Photo

“The main purpose of Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit is to further explore with countries concerned on how to implement the major consensus reached between President Xi Jinping and African leaders as well as the outcomes of the [Johannesburg] Summit [of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation],” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang in this year’s first press briefing on Tuesday.

Geng added Wang’s visit comes “against the backdrop of new changes emerging in international political and economic situations and new challenges turning up in African countries so as to assist Africa's rejuvenation and development, boost the upgrading of China-Africa cooperation and contribute to solidarity and common development among developing countries.”

2016 saw China-Africa cooperation enter a new age, with the establishment of a new railway line in Ethiopia linking Addis Ababa to the city of Djibouti, rapid progress made in building the Mombasa-Nairobi railway in Kenya, and plans made for several industrial parks and special economic zones on the continent.

Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with South African President Jacob Zuma at the Johannesburg Summit on December 4, 2015. /Xinhua Photo

Geng noted China's non-financial direct investment into Africa had increased by 31 percent from last January to September, compared to the same period the year before. He also mentioned 245 cooperation agreements worth more than 50 billion US dollars covering various fields that had been signed from the end of the Summit up to the end of last July.

According to Geng, mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Africa has shown a sound momentum of transformation and upgrading. This year China-Africa cooperation is expected to continue developing comprehensively.