China tells 53 African ministers her success secrets (2)

In an interactive with African journalists a day after the SIP tour in Suzhou, Ambassador Lin Songtian, the Director General for African Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called on African leaders to seize the platforms provided by China to transform Africa.

Lin said Africa has the potential for economic growth and development; but stressed the need for leaders to advance projects that will be sustainable to benefit the citizens.

He tasked African countries to prepare their minds for a resourceful engagement with China and be willing to make the best use of the lessons of the experiences of China and also the financial benefits they get from China. He noted that the relationship is called win-win because as Africa gains in improving her economic base, infrastructure and experience, China gains in the profits that come from the investments as most of the sponsors of the projects are of the private sector and the financiers are over 90% commercial banks. He said: “Every investor needs to make profit to remain in business and therefore the Chinese investors are not left out. But the benefit comes when the projects are driven with sincerity of purpose. The Chinese investor firms are sincere and that is why we task the benefitting African countries or companies to also adopt openness and sincerity. We advise them to invest wisely and not frustrate the gains through unguided investment methods. The Chinese firms that handle the investments are experienced and properly groomed having learnt over time from other partners. The government of China has been there to give the right directives, the reason for all the FOCAC meetings. It would be in the interest of Africa for the funds to be invested in a way that they would make maximum impact on the societies towards growth and also encourage further investment. That is the only way the economy of Africa would improve and the truth China knows and wants the richer nations to imbibe is that until Africa that has suffered in the past from exploitation is sincerely helped to stabilize, the world will not have peace. If we love the peace of the world, we have to make sure we do all we can to lift Africa.”

Since major economic reforms began in 1978, Suzhou has become one of the fastest growing major cities in the world, with GDP growth rates of about 14% in the past 35 years. With high life expectancy and per capita incomes, Suzhou's Human Development Index ratings is roughly comparable to a moderately developed country, making it one of the most highly developed and prosperous cities in China.

The SIP occupies a 288 sq km area in eastern Suzhou, about a third of Singapore’s size. 80 sq km belongs to the China-Singapore cooperation zone. In the beginning, Singapore initially held 65% share in the SIP which was later cut down to 35% and now stands at 28% as China and private company stakes increase.

Skyscrapers in Suzhou (Photo/Ikenna Emewu)

The project aims to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship, and to attract high-tech industries, especially software-focused information technology and biotechnology industries. The SIP gross domestic product in 2013 was 190 billion yuan (S$39.6 billion), up from one billion yuan in 1994 and it contributes 15 per cent to the city’s economy.

It was commenced in 1992 but came alive in 1994 and within this short period, the space of land said by natives to have been rice fields some 24 years ago is a shiny and opulent city that hosts about 1.5m population, some 10% of the population of the city and commands a good percentage of the GDP. The SIP is reputed as the most successful economic development model of China and the owners of the project said they leveraged on the closeness of Suzhou to Shanghai, the largest economic hub of China, to launch into development and that has worked wonders.

In the list of thousands of companies in the SIP most of which are foreign, the cluster has 91 of the 500 Fortune top 500 list in the area.

At the Higer Bus company, the managers explained their successes over time and also how their alliance with the Scania motor company 10 years ago led to further growth and higher output and improved quality of their products.