LUSAKA, Nov. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- China's top legislator Wu Bangguo reaffirmed the country's commitment to further boosting its traditional friendship with African countries in an important speech, entitled "Enhancing Mutual Trust and Promoting Common Development" and delivered Friday at the Zambian National Assembly.
This is the first time a foreign leader is invited to address the National Assembly which attracted more than 300 personages of all walks of life including Zambian Vice President Lupando Mwape, Speaker of the National Assembly Amusaa Mwanamwambwa, all the parliament members, cabinet ministers, celebrities, businessmen and diplomats.
Wu, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, is on a four-nation African tour accompanied by Vice-chairman of the NPC Standing Committee Raidi that has taken him toKenya and Zimbabwe before arriving here Thursday.
On upgrading Sino-African friendly relations, Wu said that China will follow the three-point initiative made by Chinese President Hu Jintao last February, namely, "to build on the traditional friendship and push for new progress in China-Africa relations; to persist in mutual assistance and mutual benefit and promote common prosperity of China and Africa; and to cooperate even more closely in an effort to safeguard the rights and interests of the developing countries."
To this end, Wu made a five-point proposal in his some 30-minute speech which won prolonged applause.
First, to maintain the momentum of high-level exchanges. Political mutual trust serves as the political basis for China-Africa friendship. Given the new situation and tasks, China and Africa shall bear in mind the fundamental interests of our peoples, inherit and carry forward the tradition of friendship and continueto increase direct dialogue and contact between their leadership so as to deepen their relationship of trust and cooperation, cement the political basis of China-Africa relations, push forward the exchange and cooperation between the two sides in all fields and promote fresh development of the relationship between China and Africa.
Second, to expand mutually beneficial economic cooperation and trade. Reciprocal and mutually beneficial economic cooperation andtrade serve as the economic basis for China-Africa friendly relations. China has for long supported Africa's economic and social development by providing assistance within its capacity to African countries with no political strings attached. In the future, as China's economic strength grows, we will give our friends more assistance. At the same time, we are also aware that China and Africa enjoy huge economic complementarity. Africa has rich natural and human resources while China has applied technology and experience in development, which offers each other broad markets and great potential for cooperation. We will work with African countries to actively explore new avenues and approaches of economic cooperation and trade for mutual benefit, especially those of cooperation among enterprises. The Chinese government will actively facilitate practical cooperation between enterprises. It will particularly strengthen cooperation in major projects that could make a difference in the overall picture and encourage competent and trust-worthy Chinese enterprises to investin and start up businesses in Africa, thus promoting common development.
Thirdly, to strengthen friendly exchanges between the two parliaments. Inter-parliamentary exchanges constitute an importantpart of state-to-state relations. The Chinese National People's Congress (NPC) and parliaments of African countries all have a major role to play in their respective domestic political system. Though different from one another, China's NPC and parliaments in African countries are faced with the common task of democratic andlegal system development. The Chinese NPC stands willing to carry out multi-dimensional friendly exchanges with its counterparts in African countries through a variety of channels, learn and draw upon each other's strength, deepen friendship between the peoples and expand inter-regional cooperation, thus making greater contribution to the all-round development of our state-to-state relations.
Fourthly, to deepen exchanges in the cultural field. Exchanges and cooperation in this regard serve as the social foundation of China-Africa friendship. Both China and Africa are cradles of human civilization; in the long history of mankind, both the Chinese nation and African people created splendid cultures and made significant contribution to the progress of human civilization. China will continue to work together with African countries to further deepen and broaden the cooperation and friendly people-to-people exchanges in this field, thus instillingfresh vitality into the development of the China-Africa relationship. We also need to encourage more exchanges between ouryounger generation to make sure that our friendship is passed on from generation to generation.
Fifthly, to have closer consultation and coordination in international affairs. We have broad common interests and solid cooperation foundation in international affairs. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China, as always, will continueto support legitimate positions and demands of the vast number of developing countries, African ones included, and facilitate solidarity and cooperation between the developing countries. Chinawill continue to support the efforts made by African countries to solve regional conflicts and develop their economy. China will continue to participate in UN peacekeeping operations and UN programs for promoting economic and social progress in Africa. While continuing its effort to advance South-South cooperation, China will also actively push for North-South dialogue, calling onthe developed countries to take actions in real earnest to help the developing countries enhance their capacity to develop on their own initiatives. We are also willing to continue to coordinate our positions with African countries on various multilateral occasions in the international arena to jointly safeguard the rights and interests of the developing countries.
