A new platform to promote economic and trade cooperation between China and Africa was established in Beijing on Tuesday.
According to the Administrative Committee of Beijing Daxing International Airport Economic Zone, the Asia-Africa Innovation Cooperation Center was set up after President Xi Jinping proposed to establish a China-Africa center on innovation cooperation between China and Africa.
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The committee has set up the embassies of several African nations in China and Chinese companies, including Asia-Africa Silk Road International Business Co.
The zone's administrative committee said that it is poised to become an important channel through which Chinese and African entrepreneurs can set up and develop business more efficiently.
The committee said it would strengthen cooperation with African countries and improve the business environment and services, with the aim of facilitating cooperation between China and Africa in areas such as trade, investment, science and technology, environmental protection, culture, tourism and talent cultivation.
Mahamudu Bawumia, the vice-president of Ghana, applauded the establishment of the center and the deep friendship and cooperation between China and Ghana.
The establishment of the Asia-Africa Innovation Cooperation Center, with the inclusion of a Ghana pavilion, is another indication of the greater commitment between our two countries, he said via video link at the launch ceremony of the center on Tuesday.
He said that China is Ghana's biggest trading partner and foreign investment source and that the range of Chinese investment in Ghana is very broad and covers areas such as agriculture, health, infrastructure, industries and services.
Despite the COVID 19 epidemic, China has provided assistance in terms of projects such as ports, roads and bridges, which have brought benefits to the people of Ghana, he said.
The center represents the culmination of the initiative of the government of China to forge stronger and mutually beneficial relations with Africa, said Martin Chedondo, Zimbabwe's ambassador to China. He believes that the center will be a platform for sharing information and resources and policy communication between China and Africa in the promotion of economic cooperation and trade, because of China's vision to uplift the lives of the people on the African continent.
He said that the center will be a steppingstone in the quest to build a China-Africa community with a shared future of prosperity.
The center will allow the import and sale of Zimbabwean goods online and offline. This will help enterprises in Zimbabwe expand their production capacities, thereby growing our economy and increasing jobs. Dawano Kedir, deputy head of mission at the Ethiopian Embassy in Beijing, applauded China-Ethiopia cooperation and said he hoped that the center would play an important role in strengthening bilateral cooperation.
He said that China has had a great contribution to the development of Ethiopia and that the great opportunities created by China had benefited both sides.
China-Africa trade exceeded $250 billion last year despite the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic, making China the biggest trading partner of Africa for 13 years in a row, according to China's Ministry of Commerce.