Voices

“China regards Afghanistan as a priority in its neighborhood diplomacy. Chinas long-standing policy is to consolidate and develop its traditional friendship with Afghanistan.”

Vice Chinese President Li Yuanchao made this statement in his talks with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani during their meeting in Kabul on November 3. Li said that the Chinese side supports the “Afghan-led and Afghan-owned” peace and reconciliation process， that it stands ready to play a constructive role， and will provide necessary support to that end. After the talks， Li Yuanchao and Ghani witnessed the signing of an economic and technical cooperation agreement whereby China will provide RMB 500 million in aid to Afghanistan， to be used for affordable housing and to improve Afghan peoples livelihood.

“The cooperation between China and Africa is a mutually beneficial cooperation among developing countries and mutual assistance among friends... Since the inception of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation （FOCAC） 15 years ago， China and Africa have carried out fruitful， across-the-board cooperation. Political mutual trust has grown significantly， and our practical cooperation has progressed in leaps and bounds. In 2014， trade between China and Africa exceeded US $220 billion， and Chinas investment stock in Africa surpassed US $30 billion， a 22-fold and 60-fold increase respectively over the figures in 2000， when the FOCAC was established. Moreover， the share of China-Africa trade in Africas total foreign trade has increased from 3.82 to 20.5 percent.”

Jiang Peng， Charge dAffairs of the Chinese Embassy in Kenya， made these remarks on November 1 at a symposium on China-Africa cooperation in infrastructure construction and high-speed rail， expressway and regional aviation network building.endprint