China’s Path to Modernization Reference for African Countries: China Daily Editorial – Opinion
Chinese President Xi Jinping hosts a ceremony to welcome visiting Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan ahead of their talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, November 3, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]
As the first African leader to visit China in three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s official visit to Beijing from Wednesday to Friday is highly significant.
His visit is being closely watched not only by African countries, which will be looking for signals on China’s Africa policy after the election of the country’s top leadership, but also by Western countries hoping to find something to derail China. African ties.
Yet these countries’ praise of China’s laudable economic and trade cooperation with African countries only prompts both sides to nurture their cooperation and mutual trust.
The fact that the two leaders agreed to elevate the relationship to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership and deepen practical cooperation between the two countries in the digital, green and blue economy speaks to the substantive extent of the interaction between the two sides.
It also reveals the ulterior motives of those Western critics, since the proposed cooperation will undoubtedly bring tangible benefits to the people of Tanzania.
Speaking to President Xi Jinping on Thursday, Hassan said China is a true friend of Tanzania and Tanzania wants to be a reliable partner of China forever. That comment as well as the actual results of real cooperation between China and African countries are the best refutation of the malicious stigma of those Western critics.
China has built countless hospitals, schools, stadiums, roads, railways, bridges and thriving industrial parks and created countless employment opportunities, all of which have improved the well-being of local people.
China and Africa have forged an unbreakable bond of brotherhood in the struggle against imperialism and colonialism. That historical legacy has laid a solid foundation on which to translate the Global Development Initiative into China’s proposed concrete steps to exploit the complementarity between China and African economies, the principles that China has always adhered to in its cooperation with other countries — mutual respect, frank exchanges. Giving, mutual assistance and win-win outcomes — principles that mean that its cooperation has no political strings attached.
As President Xi said, China’s modernization is not Westernization. Its achievements in improving people’s livelihoods and revitalizing rural areas provide a reference for African countries in their efforts to explore their own development paths.