PRESS RELEASE
China and Africa Join Hands To Eradicate Poverty from the World
June 25, 2017 (EIRNS)—In the African Union Conference Center in Addis Adaba, Ethiopia, high-level officials, civil servants, poverty fighters and policymakers from Africa and China met June 21-22 for the "China-Africa High-Level Dialogue and Think Tank Forum on Fighting against Poverty for Common Prosperity." The beautiful commitment of those who participated is nothing less than to replicate China’s "miracle in world development history" of eradicating poverty at home, in Africa, and in all countries.
African Union Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chad’s Foreign Minister, opened the forum, co-chaired by the African Union Leadership Academy and the Institute of African Studies of China’s Zhejiang Normal University, by telling participants that China and Africa are united in their determination to eliminate poverty. "It is a two-way relationship and we can learn considerably with humility from one another," he said.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi set the highest goals for the meeting in his keynote.
"Peace and development are far from being achieved in many parts of the world. Close to 400 million people in Africa live under the poverty line, and more than 40 million Chinese need to be lifted out of poverty. China and Africa need to join hands in fighting poverty and achieving common development. This is our responsibility to the future generations, the shared objective of Chinese and African people and the inherent part of human progress,"
he said. "China and Africa have always been a community of shared interests and future." Now, "we stand ready to seized the opportunities presented by the Belt and Road Initiative," he said.
China, he promised,
"will actively encourage the international community to support Africa in scaling up efforts against poverty. We welcome diversified partnerships for Africa and call on all parties to reject the outdated mentality of zero-sum game and embrace the new thinking of win-win cooperation. Developed countries, in particular, should further increase their attention and input to Africa’s poverty reduction cause, truly honor their commitment, and jointly help Africa achieve durable peace, development and prosperity."
‘How Can a Weak Hatchling Bird Be the First To Fly?’
Wang centered his discussion of how China carried out its "miracle," on a book by Xi Jinping, Up and Out of Poverty, which is based on the Chinese President’s speeches and actions nearly 30 years ago when, as local leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC), he led the effort to pull Ningde, in Fujian province, out of impoverishment. [
The four principles outlined in this book of speeches continue to guide China’s anti-poverty campaign, Wang said. The second of these, captures the essence of the strategy needed by every nation today:
"Take development as the central task," Wang exlained.
"Development is the ‘master key’ to solving all problems. The CPC and governments at all levels have taken the economy as the central task, made development the top priority in governance, concentrated all efforts on it and rallied the whole nation in this endeavor. Consequently, China has become the world’s second largest economy in just a few decades. And a solid material foundation is laid for poverty alleviation."
The Xi Jinping book was released in French and English translation at the end of 2016 in response to interest from African leaders, Wang said. He cited one of Xi’s speeches to local authorities about getting out of poverty, carrying the captivating title "How Can a Weak Hatchling Bird Be the First To Fly?" This week, Lovemore Chikova, the China-Africa Focus columnist for Zimbabwe’s Herald, published a full speech from that book titled "Economic Chorus," calling it "a must read for development enthusiasts." There, Xi insisted local officials understand that, without promoting economic development, they were "simply tinkering." The future President of China continued:
"To sing in unison, a choir must focus on the theme and the rhythm. The same is true of economic work. If every entry only stresses the importance of its own work, each following its own score and singing a different tune, the performance will inevitably fail.... We must all sing together, focusing on the theme of economic work.... For the economic chorus to have strong artistic value, it must adhere to choral discipline, as well as to technique. Each department and every individual must therefore be conscious of the overall strategy. With the same goal, concerted efforts, and a unified voice, we will produce a melodious, resonant and beautiful song."
