5th China- Africa People's Forum Opens in Chengdu

The fifth China-Africa People’s Forum opened in Chengdu, capital of southwest China’s Sichuan Province on Monday.
This is part of a series of events leading up to the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

The ongoing forum in Chengdu has attracted more than 190 guests and representatives from China and 30 African countries will attend the meeting held from July 23 - 24.
Discussions will center around how to promote social and people-to-people exchanges between the two sides over the next two days.

In his congratulatory letter to the forum, Chinese President Xi Jinping hopes participants can inspire each other to build a closer community with a shared future. By adhering to the three principles for China-Africa people-to-people friendship -- "enhancing people-to-people friendship, promoting practical cooperation and furthering world peace," Xi said the forum serves as "an important bridge" between the Chinese and African people, which has played an active role in promoting people-to-people exchanges between the two sides since 2011.

The China-Africa People's Forum were previously held in Nairobi, Kenya in 2011, Suzhou, China in 2012, Khartoum, Sudan in 2014 and Yiwu, China in 2015.
"It is my hope that this forum provides an opportunity for all of you to share ideas and experiences, build consensus and to contribute your insights and suggestions on friendly people-to-people cooperation between China and Africa," Xi said.

Song Tao, head of the International Liaison Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, read Xi's congratulatory letter at the forum's opening ceremony. Xi is currently abroad on a new round of state visits to African countries including Senegal, Rwanda, South Africa and Mauritius.
Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan called China and Africa "natural allies" through the years bearing similar historical experiences, similar struggles and the same development goals.

"We should be promoters for political mutual trust, we should be pushers for economic mutual benefit, we should be practitioners to learn from and reflect on each other's civilizations, we should be watchers for security mutual aid, and we should be collaborators for multilateral interactions," said Wang outlining his vision during his keynote speech.

The fifth China-Africa People's Forum, under the theme of "pooling strength from the people for stronger China-Africa friendship and mutual trust," is jointly hosted by the China NGO Network for International Exchanges and Sichuan provincial government, and serves as a warm-up for the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation to be held in September.

The forum will explore how NGOs can utilize their unique advantages and play an important role in promoting China-Africa friendship and cooperation, and to push forward the building of a community with shared future for China and Africa. It will also issue a plan to initiate 30 cooperative programs for the Chinese side to implement in Africa in civil areas over the next three years.

July 23, 2018