Africa will remain important pillar of China's diplomacy_美文

Africa will remain important pillar of China's diplomacy

President Xi Jinping visited three African nations during his first trip abroad after assuming office last March.

Experts said security cooperation should be given priority as economic cooperation has gained unprecedented momentum.

"The turbulence in parts of the continent has placed Chinese investment there in risky hands ...the cooperation in military and defense fields should be in line with the fast-growing economic field," Zhang said.

Chinese enterprises completed construction contracts worth $40.83 billion in Africa in 2017, an increase of 45 percent from 2009, according to a white paper titled China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation, published by the Information Office of the State Council.

Security is now a weak link of China-Africa cooperation, and the Beijing summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation last year underscored "peace and security" as a new field of cooperation.

He Wenping said China and African countries should enhance their cooperation in sharing anti-terrorism information.

"The two sides have taken a major step forward, and China has started training peace keeping staff for Africa and provided facilities and funding," He said.

Moreover, Sino-Africa cooperation has developed so fast that it greatly exceeded the expectation of both sides and follow up measures in some areas lag behind, Zhang said.

"For example, some Chinese companies didn't fully perform their corporate social responsibility when making investments in Africa. Also, the laws and regulations in African countries are not sound enough and might risk some business interests," he added.