"Quality upgrade for a closer community of shared future between China and Africa", 7 September 2018

 At the opening ceremony of the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, China's President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech "Work Together for Common Development and a Shared Future."...President Xi proposed that over the next three years and beyond, China will implement eight major initiatives in fields such as industrial development, infrastructure connectivity, trade facilitation, green development, capacity building, health care, people-to-people exchanges, peace, and security in order to...These eight initiatives represent China's blueprint for the development of China-Africa relations. Since the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2000, the volume of trade between China and Africa has increased 17 fold, and China's investment in Africa has increased by more than 100 fold...President Xi put a particular emphasis on the "five nos" principle that applies to China's cooperation with Africa. China won't stand in the way of African countries as they explore a path towards development...China won't interfere in Africa's internal affairs. It won't impose its own will on others. It won't attach political conditions to its African aid programs. And it won't act out of political self-interest when it comes to investment and financing in Africa...In order to help Africa achieve its development goals, President Xi said China is willing to provide 60 billion U.S. dollars of support through government assistance, financial institutions, and corporate investment. This funding will go towards three overarching areas of need. The first of these is the need to improve the basic living standards of African people by providing the continent with basic food security by 2030; upgrading health care services including maternity support and assistance for vulnerable children; implementing 50 cultural and sports tourism projects; and 50 security assistance projects. The second area of need relates to enhancing Africa's ability to develop independently...