Majorbreakthroughshavebeenachievedforbothsidesduringtheyear鈥檚majorinternationalevents,includingChina鈥檚strongsupportforaplanonAfrica鈥檚industrializationduringtheHangzhouG20Summit,thelaunchoftheChinese-builtelectrifiedrailwaybetweenEthiopiaandDjiboutiandthemulti-billion-dollardealssignedduringtheSecondInvestinginAfricaForum.
Despitethemanyunknownsthathavearisenonthelargerinternationalstageoverthelastmonthsof2016,China-Africarelationsaregrowingdeeperandstrongerandremainafactorofstabilityinachangingglobalenvironment.ChinAfricaselected10ofthemostsignificanteventsof2016asfollows:
10MostInfluentialEventsinChina-AfricaRelationsin2016
1.ChineselanguageintroducedatSouthAfricanschools
Atotalnumberof44schoolsacrossSouthAfricahaveintroducedChineselanguageintotheircurriculain2016andanother500schoolsinSouthAfricawillofferChineseasasecondforeignlanguageinthenextfiveyears.Theroll-outofChineseteachinginSouthAfricawasincrementallyimplementedinschoolswithGrades4to10inJanuary2016,tobefollowedbyGrade11in2017andGrade12in2018.
2.China-EgyptCulturalYear2016launched
AseriesofculturalactivitieskickedoffayearofculturalexchangesbetweenChinaandEgyptinlateJanuary,incelebrationofthe60thanniversaryoftheestablishmentofdiplomatictiesbetweenthetwocountries.TheChina-EgyptCulturalYearsawthetwosidesworktogetheronaseriesofactivitiesincludingmusic,dance,food,artists鈥檈xchanges,tourismandexhibitionofrelics.Culturalexchangesareaimedatenhancingthetwopeoples鈥檓utualunderstandingstohelpimprovethetwocountries鈥檆ooperationintheBeltandRoadInitiative,accordingtoLuYanfei,DeputyHeadoftheForeignRelationsDepartmentundertheMinistryofCulture.
3.China鈥檚toplegislatorvisitedthreeAfricancountries
InlateMarch,ZhangDejiang,ChairmanoftheStandingCommitteeoftheNationalPeople鈥檚Congress,China鈥檚toplegislature,embarkedona10dayAfricatourwhichtookhimtoZambia,RwandaandKenya.Duringhisvisits,Zhangproposedtostrengthencooperationinareassuchasindustrialcapacity,agriculture,infrastructureconstruction,financeandhumanresourcesdevelopmentbetweenChinaandAfricancountries.HealsocalledontoenhancebilateralcollaborationonimplementingtheconsensusreachedattheJohannesburgSummitoftheForumonChina-AfricaCooperationheldinSouthAfricainlate2015,andconstantlydeepenbilateralrelations.
4.AfricancountriessupportChina鈥檚positiononSouthChinaSeaIssue
OneofthebiggeststoriesoftheyearwastheArbitralTribunalintheSouthChinaSearow.TheArbitralTribunalwasestablishedbythePermanentCourtofArbitrationinTheHague,whichhasnorelationwiththeUnitedNations.TheTribunalruledonJuly12thatChina鈥檚claimtothewatersoftheSouthChinaSeahasnolegalbasis.ChinasaidtheTribunalhadnowayinwhichtoenforcethedecisionreached,andignoredtherulingcallingitnullandvoid.Throughoutthemonth-longdebate,theAfricanUnion,alongwithAfricannationsincludingTanzania,Uganda,Eritrea,ComorosandSouthAfricawerevocalintheirsupportforChinaanditssovereigntyoverthewaters.ThisincidentwasanimportantmilestoneinChina鈥檚ongoingdeepeningrelationshipwithAfrica.
5.ImplementationoftheFOCACJohannesburgSummitActionPlanPromoted
ACoordinators鈥橫eeting,heldonJuly29inBeijing,assessedtheimplementationoftheoutcomesoftheJohannesburgSummitoftheForumonChina-AfricaCooperation(FOCAC).ItconfirmedthatgreatprogresshasbeenachievedthroughpromptactionbybothChinaandAfrica,andreaffirmedfurtherjointeffortsinachievingthegoalsofthesummit.
6.China-AfricaPublicDiplomacyForumheldinTanzania
TheChina-AfricaPublicDiplomacyForumwasheldonAugust9inTanzania鈥檚largestcityofDaresSalaam.Theforumfocusedonexploringopportunitiesforfuturedevelopmentandshareddiplomaticperceptionssoastounderstandthedivergenceofopinionsthatcouldleadtomisunderstandings.OrganizedbytheChinaPublicDiplomacyAssociationandChinaRadioInternational,theforumemphasizedtheroleplayedbymediainbridgingthegapbetweenthepeoplesofChinaandAfrica.
7.AfricawelcomedG20resolutionsonAfrica鈥檚industrialization
TheGroupof20(G20)SummitopenedonSeptember4ineastChina鈥檚HangzhouCity.LeadersparticipatinginthesummitbackedanewplantosupportAfrica鈥檚industrialization.ItisthefirsttimethattheG20agreedonanactionplanforimplementingthe2030AgendaforSustainableDevelopmentandsupportingtheindustrializationofAfricancountriesandleastdevelopedcountries.
8.TheSecondInvestinginAfricaForum
OnSeptember7,theSecondInvestinginAfricaForumwasheldinsouthChina鈥檚GuangzhouCity.Theevent,oneofthebiggestandarguablymostinfluentialoftheyearforChinese-Africanbusinessrelations,sawdealsworthmorethan$2.5billionbeingsigned.Around300governmentofficials,entrepreneursandinternationalorganizationrepresentativestookpartintheforum.AmongtheguestswasSouthAfricanPresidentJacobZuma,whoreiteratedhiscommitmenttostrengtheningtheSouthAfrica-Chinarelationship.
9.Africa鈥檚firstinternationalelectrifiedrailwaylaunched
OnOctober5,Africa鈥檚firstcross-borderelectrifiedrailway,theEthiopia-DjiboutiRailway,becamefullyoperational.ItlinkstheEthiopiancapitalAddisAbabawiththeportofDjibouti.The756-kmelectrifiedrailwaywasbuiltbytwoChinesecompanies,namelyChinaRailwayGroupandChinaCivilEngineeringConstructionCorp.ThistransportprojectisexpectedtostrengthentheeconomiesofEthiopiaandDjiboutiandfurtherintegratetheregioneconomically.
10.MoreSouthAfricanfruitstobeavailableinChina
OnOctober31,TheChinaEntry-ExitInspectionandQuarantineAssociationandFruitSouthAfricasignedamemorandumofunderstanding(MoU)toexpandfruittradebetweenthetwocountries.TheMoUcoversawidevarietyofproducts,includingapples,pears,grapes,citrusandsubtropicalfruits.Theagreementwillcreateamorefavorableenvironmentforthedevelopmentoffruittradebetweenthetwocountries,andmakeiteasierforfruitloversinChinatoenjoyfreshproductsallyearround.CA