China reiterates support for African integration

BEIJING, Jan. 29 (People's Daily Online) -- China will continue to support Africa's integration process and concerted efforts for common development, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday.

Spokesman Hong Lei made the remarks at a daily news briefing after the 20th Summit for the African Union (AU) was held in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa from Jan. 27 to 28. Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Zhai Juan attended the summit as a special envoy.

"China applauds the successful conclusion of the summit," Hong said, adding that Zhai's attendance also shows that China attaches importance to Africa and the relationships between China and African countries.

"As Africa's good friend and partner, China will continue to support Africa's integration process and concerted efforts for common development, implement the outcomes of the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and advance the new type of Sino-African strategic partnership," Hong said.

The conference was held last July in Beijing.

Founded in 2002, the AU supports political and economic integration among its 54 members. The 20th summit focused on the issues of peace and security as well as African integration. China established the Sino-African strategic dialogue mechanism in 2008 through the AU platform.

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