The China-Africa Cooperation Forum is different from some other
forums or conferences for its follow-up actions have been well
implemented, said Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin in Addis
Ababa on Tuesday.??
"The forum is not a talk shop," said Seyoum at a press
conference jointly hosted with his Chinese counterpart Li Zhaoxing
after the Second Ministerial Conference of the forum.
To prove his viewpoint, Seyoum gave a number of follow-up
actions that have done since the First Ministerial Conference of
the forum in Beijing, 2000, which include that the Chinese
government to grant some least developed countries in Africa
tariff-free treatment for their export to China, the establishment
of the African Human Resources Development Fund in 2002 exclusively
for African personnel training, and China's cancellation with 31
African countries on 156 matured debts totaling 10.5 billion yuan
RMB (about US$1.27 billion).
Li, on his part, said he totally agrees with his "friend" on
this point, adding that he wishes the friendship between Ethiopia
and China, and the friendship between Africa and China, become "new
and everlasting flower" that is beneficial to the Chinese people,
the Ethiopian people and the African people.
The Second Ministerial Conference of the forum was opened here
on Monday, aiming to greatly improve the all-around cooperation
between China and African countries.
Highlighted by the action-oriented spirit, the meeting, which
gathered China and more than 40 African government delegations, is
the first ministerial conference of the forum held on the African
continent, and will be a significant event in the Sino-African
relationship.
(Xinhua News Agency December 17, 2003)
