The Sixth China-Africa People’s Forum is held on November 15, 2021 in Beijing. Photo: Fan Anqi/ GT

Delegates from African countries at the Sixth China-Africa People's Forum on Monday reiterated their long-standing friendship and commitment to forge even stronger ties with China to build a community with a shared future. The forum was held in advance of the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation that will take place between November 29 and 30 in Dakar.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese president, sent a congratulatory letter to the forum, which opened in Beijing on Monday, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Noting that the world is in an era of great development and great change, Xi said China and Africa, facing new opportunities and challenges, need to further uphold and carry forward peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom, which are the common values of humanity, according to the report.

Ji Bingxuan, Vice Chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, described the friendship between China and Africa as "rock-solid." 

Ji added that both parties have been working hard to maintain a strong development momentum and promote the Belt and Road Initiative, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, and treating each other with respect on an equal footing. 

He also mentioned that "the close ties have shown the world how different political systems and how countries in different development stages can jointly pursue common goals, seek common ground, share differences, and draw strengths from each other." 

Delegates attending the event also shared their views on the need for China and Africa, the largest developing country in the world and the continent with more concentration of developing countries, to shoulder responsibilities to safeguard the mutual core interests and major concerns on the global stage.

They called for both sides to pursue fairness and justice under a global governance system that reflects the will and interests of the majority of countries in a more balanced manner while vowing to resolutely oppose power politics and uphold true multilateralism. 

"China has become a major international power in the world and it should not be absent from global governance but play a more important role," H.E. Martin Mbazumutima, Ambassador of Burundi to China, said at the forum, adding that, "we are very pleased to see that China is laying the groundwork for a new international order by proposing new development concepts in various key issues such as climate change, COVID-19 response, as well as environmental protection."

"We have much to learn from China's experience and achievements. I believe that China's success is not only a miracle of economic development but also a miracle of social stability. In this era of globalization, every country should learn from the successful experiences of other countries," H.E.Mohamed Elbadri, Ambassador of Egypt to China, said during the event.