2015年CRI China-Africa Summit Expected to Explore New Growth Opportunities for Both Sides

 

Zhou Yuxiao, former Chinese Ambassador to Zambia, says the summit is a channel to connect China's 13th Five Year Plan and Africa's Agenda 2063.

"To promote capacity cooperation, transferring high-quality surplus capacity to Africa, to accelerate industrialization and agricultural modernization¹ in Africa will be one of the highlights of this summit."

Despite slowing growth in both regions, China and Africa hope to boost their trade on the occasion of this summit.

Garth Strachan with South Africa's Department of Trade and Industry says China and Africa are now seeking a restructuring of their export profile.

"Somewhere in the region, 90 percent of the exports to the People's Republic of China are primary commodities and there is agreement in the relationship and the strategic partnership² that we need to change that profile in the direction of the export of more value-added products."

Debt levels among African countries is also a big area of concern. Some observers hope that China will provide relief for these countries.

Managing director of Emerging Markets & Africa, Martyn Davies, said Chinese policy banks have been the single largest lenders to African states.

"Many of these loans are underwritten by sovereign guarantees and many of these loans are also underwritten by commodities, i.e. high commodity prices. In light of recent, the last 12 months, recent collapse³ of commodities prices - oil, solid commodities, a lot of these maturity⁴ and the repayment⁵ of these debts clearly need to be pushed out."

Besides capacity cooperation, cultural exchange is also expected to be among the topics during the summit.

Liu Hongwu, director of Institute of African Studies of Zhejiang Normal University, says China and Africa can strengthen their cooperation between think tanks and universities, learn more from each other's culture and work together to protect cultural heritages.

"All of these events are open to public. With more cultural exchanges, the relationship between China and Africa will be reinforced."

The Johannesburg Summit is the second summit in the 15 years since the FOCAC' inception⁶, and the first to be held in Africa.

Upon his arrival in Pretoria, President Xi Jinping has said the summit will serve as a milestone⁷ in pushing all-round development of China-Africa relations and promoting a more balanced, inclusive and sustainable development of the world.

1 modernization   

n.现代化，现代化的事物

参考例句：

• This will help us achieve modernization.这有助于我们实现现代化。
• The Chinese people are sure to realize the modernization of their country.中国人民必将实现国家现代化。

2 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

3 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

4 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。

5 repayment   

n.偿还，偿还款；报酬

参考例句：

• I am entitled to a repayment for the damaged goods.我有权利索取货物损坏赔偿金。
• The tax authorities have been harrying her for repayment.税务局一直在催她补交税款。

6 inception   

n.开端，开始，取得学位

参考例句：

• The programme has been successful since its inception.这个方案自开始实施以来一直卓有成效。
• Julia's worked for that company from its inception.自从那家公司开办以来，朱莉娅一直在那儿工作。

7 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。