President Hu Jintao's state visit to Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Nigeria and Kenya on April 22-29 was of great significance to the development of relations between China and the four nations, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said in Nairobi on Saturday.

 

Li said Hu's Arab-African tour, following a visit to the United States, has achieved the desired goal of consolidating traditional friendship between China and the four nations, enhancing mutual trust and expanding mutually beneficial cooperation.

 

The visit ushered in a new situation featuring the development of mutually beneficial relations between China and Arab, African nations and developing countries at large, Li said.

 

He said Hu held in-depth talks with leaders of the four nations and exchanged views with them on bilateral ties and regional and international issues of common concern.

 

During the tour, the president made important speeches on how to boost China's links with the Arab and African nations under the current situations, and met entrepreneurs, students as well as public representatives, Li said.

 

China signed 28 accords with the four countries, which covered a variety of fields including politics, security, economy and trade, energy, education, health system, culture and tourism during Hu's visits.

 

Strengthening of political mutual trust, promotion of bilateral relations

 

During the four-nation tour, Hu pointed out that efforts should be made to push forward in an all-around way a new type of strategic partnership between China and Arab and African countries featuring political mutual trust, economic mutual benefit and mutual support in world affairs.

 

Hu said as China and the four nations are all developing countries, they have common interests in safeguarding world peace, boosting common prosperity and improving their people's living standards.

 

China and the four countries should increase exchanges and consultations, boost mutual trust, expand pragmatic and mutually beneficial cooperation and have closer coordination in regional and international affairs, Hu said.

 

These opinions were echoed by leaders of the four countries.

 

Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz said people in his kingdom cherished deep appreciation for the Chinese people and their leaders, and Saudi Arabia would always be a sincere and trustworthy friend of China.

 

Moroccan King S. M. Le Roi Mohammed VI said Hu's visit to his country had injected new vitality into the Morocco-China relations, and he hoped for a continued expansion in bilateral cooperation.

 

Nigerian President Olusengun Obasanjo said Nigeria-China ties had stepped onto a track of strategic partnership, and he hoped such partnership could make constant headway.

 

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki said his country expected to develop better and closer ties with China.

 

Innovating way of cooperation, consolidating practical cooperation

 

During the visits, Hu noted that China would work with the four nations to develop mutually complementary and win-win cooperation.

 

He put forward a series of proposals, including extending bilateral cooperation from the single field of trade exchanges to a greater scope covering investment and technology, undertaking contracted projects, and expanding governmental cooperation to a broader range involving governments, enterprises and other economic entities.

 

Hu also proposed increasing intelligence-related projects such as cooperation in capacity building, human resources training and technology exchanges, promoting the development of primary products processing to realize value added, optimizing and upgrading traditional manufacturing industry, attaching great importance to facilitating local development and improving people's livelihood.

 

Hu's proposals and commitments made during the visits were lauded by the governments and business communities of the host countries.

 

They expected more Chinese corporate investments and cooperation in areas of infrastructure construction, agriculture, manufacturing sector, energy and resources.

 

Saudi business communities, in particular, expressed their aspirations to establish a strategic and global economic partnership with China.

 

Some world media believed that the cooperation between China and the four nations plus other developing countries will be more mutually beneficial and China's development will bring about tremendous opportunities for the economic development of the Middle East and African countries.

 

Strengthening bilateral exchanges, building harmonious world

 

Hu stressed that the Chinese civilization, the Arab civilization and the African one, all of which were the most ancient in the human history, should conduct various exchanges and dialogues to deepen mutual understanding and friendship between the people, promote the development of bilateral ties and revitalize the ancient civilizations so as to make greater contribution to the mankind of the 21st century.

 

The president also expounded on China's path of peaceful development, the opening-up strategy and the concept of building a harmonious world, which helped deepen the four countries' understanding of China's domestic and foreign policies.

 

Speaking highly of the great achievements China had made in economic and social development, leaders of the four countries expressed their wish to learn and draw from China's successful experience.

 

They hoped to join hands with the Chinese people in building a better future.

 

Strengthening coordination, jointly safeguarding regional peace

 

During the visits, Hu noted that enhancing concerted coordination among the developing countries conformed to the common interests of all parties.

 

He said China is willing to make joint efforts with other developing countries to safeguard the tenet and the principles of the UN Charter, strengthen consultation and cooperation within the framework of the United Nations and multilateral organizations, jointly defend the legal rights of the developing countries.

 

Hu expounded on China's positions on the Middle East conflict, Iran's nuclear issue, Iraq and Sudan, noting that China considered that all actions and initiatives concerning the Middle East and the Gulf region should respect the choice of the countries and people in the region.

 

China supports the efforts of the African nations to seek unity, build up national strength, and seek the settlement of African issues independently, said Hu, adding that China also supports the leading role of the African Union in strengthening African solidarity and cooperation.

 

During the Chinese president's four-nation Arab-Africa tour, all the host countries highly evaluated China's important status in the international arena, considering China a major force in promoting world peace and development.

 

They praised China for playing a constructive role in international affairs and pursuing impartial stands on relevant international issues, and hoped that China would play a greater role in Middle East and African affairs.

 

(Xinhua News Agency April 30, 2006)