Africa Watch: A stronger voice for developing countries

Sixty years ago, a historic Africa tour by then Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai marked the beginning of modern diplomatic ties between China and Africa.

Since then, the two peoples have pulled together for the common cause of realizing national liberation and safeguarding the interests of developing countries.

Late last year, the successful Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit held in Johannesburg ushered in a new era of win-win cooperation and common prosperity.

With a historic opportunity unfolding before both China and Africa, meaningful exchanges and cooperation of Sino-African media entities will pave the way for a stronger voice for developing countries as a whole.

"The current Euro-centric hegemony in global affairs is hinged on a clearly biased, often malicious, narrative that favors the West, victimizing Asia and Africa, and the rest of the world," says Momodou Sabally, former Presidential Affairs Minister of The Gambia, at the 3rd Forum on China-Africa Media Cooperation in Beijing, which opend Tuesday.

Mr. Sabally's comment has pinpointed the essence of an unbalanced structure of world opinion, where Western media have long occupied an asymmetrically dominant position, often at the expense of developing countries whose appeals and efforts go unnoticed, ignored, or even worse, denigrated.

As China and Africa emerge in the global arena, "we need to realize that doing and being better may be a necessary, but will never constitute a sufficient condition for our desired and envisaged position of progress and prestige to be attained," says Sabally.

2016 is also the starting-point of implementing the ambitious 10-point development plan unveiled at the FOCAC summit. Barely months later, early fruitful results have already been achieved in fields such as setting up an industrial cooperation fund, extending emergency food assistance, training African talents, increasing special loans for Africa's small and medium-sized businesses and opening more direct flights.

Of these areas of bilateral cooperation, media exchanges and cooperation between China and Africa has always constituted an indispensable part.

"As Africa climbs the mountain of digital media, we are proud to have China stand by us!" says Sabally, citing a statement of a fellow African delegate at the Beijing forum.

Indeed, the Chinese government has attached great importance to Sino-African media exchanges and cooperation. For years, China has been hosting symposiums for African journalists and officials in charge of media affairs. Every year, China undertakes the training of 1,000 African media professionals. China has been promoting more exchanges and visits between Chinese and African media professionals and the mutually dispatching of more correspondents.

Addressing the forum, Erastus Mwencha, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission, notes that the gathering came at a right time when the African continent is highly attracting international investment and its rapidly increasing population constitutes a large market for the world economic growth.

"Therefore the media has an important role to play in publicizing and promoting the investment opportunities in both China and Africa," says Mwencha.

It is high time that China and Africa keep up the momentum to enlarge the voice of developing countries across the global mainstream media.

With this unremitting effort, the world will get to know better a China that is constantly progressing, reforming herself and opening up, and an Africa that is thriving with developmental marvels. Endit