From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping, has congratulated African leaders and the African people on the opening of the 35th African Union (AU) Summit in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa.
According to Xinhua News Agency, Xi, in a congratulatory message sent to the AU Summit, said “year 2022 commemorates the 20th anniversary of the founding of the AU.”
Xi added that over the past 20 years, the AU had remained committed to seeking strength through unity, actively exploring a development path suited to Africa, facilitating important progress in regional integration and coordinating a concerted response from African countries to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said such moves have showed the effectiveness in maintaining peace, stability and development in Africa, and had won Africa growing influence and stature in the world.
While stating that the year 2021 witnessed robust growth in China-Africa relations, President Xi noted that the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was successfully held in November, 2021.
Xi further recalled his announcement during the conference of nine programmes for cooperation with Africa in the next three years, which he said, together with African leaders, expressed unanimous support for building a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era.