Powerhouse province gears up to tap strong African ties

Nigus Wodajniw Mamuye, a reporter from Ethiopia, tries a Guangdong-made hybrid car. Zhu Xingxin / China Daily

South China's Guangdong province, one of China's major economic powerhouses, is seeking to intensify and extend trade and economic cooperation with African countries.

One of its endeavors in the pipeline is to host the second Investing in Africa Forum in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, on Sept 7 and 8. It will team up with China Development Bank and the World Bank to set up a platform for sharing development experience and talking business with African officials, experts, businesspeople and other groups.

About 300 people from more than 30 African countries, including senior government officials, experts and business tycoons and their Chinese counterparts - such as Justin Yifu Lin, former World Bank senior vice-president and an economist with Peking University, Yuan Longping, dubbed the "father of hybrid rice", and high-ranking representatives from international and regional institutions - are set to attend the event, an official with the provincial government said.

The forum will focus on themes including agriculture and agribusiness, industrialization with emphasis on light industry manufacturing, connectivity in infrastructure development, trade and energy cooperation, skills development and vocational training and job creation, as well as tourism and culture, said Zhang Aijun, deputy secretary-general of the provincial government, during a media briefing in Guangzhou on Monday.

Launched by China Development Bank and the World Bank in 2015 in Africa, IAF, a global platform for multilateral cooperation and the promotion of investment opportunities in Africa, has won extensive support from African countries, according to the World Bank website.

"The forum signifies the initiative of the provincial government of Guangdong to take part in the development of a platform for multilateral cooperation, to deepen Guangdong-Africa cooperation and to fortify its leading position in China's 21st Century Maritime Silk Road program," Zhang said.

During the forum, the organizing committee will also launch an investment promotion as well as a contract signing ceremony for several Guangdong-funded projects in Africa, according to the official.

The province will also take good advantage of the forum to showcase its competitive products - household appliances, electronic and IT products, light industrial products, medicines, medical equipment and foodstuff - all of which are expected to become more popular in Africa.

During a preparatory meeting for the second IAF earlier this year, Lin Songtian, head of the Foreign Ministry's African affairs department, said that the Chinese government encourages Chinese investors in Africa to integrate the development of their companies, the African destinations and China for a win-win effect and mutual benefit, at the same time advocating green development in Africa.

"Chinese investors will never take the smash-and-grab approach in Africa like the old colonists nor sacrifice local ecology and long-term interest for their own benefit," he said.

Lin spoke highly of the World Bank for what it has done to alleviate poverty and improve people's lives in Africa.

"We have carried out several trilateral cooperation projects in infrastructure development, investment and funding, as well as in think tank exchanges in Africa with the World Bank, and these have made marked achievements," he said, adding that the first IAF in Ethiopia last June was one of the successful examples of trilateral cooperation.

The first session saw about 200 people taking part in a platform for pragmatic, candid and constructive discussions on feasible approaches to accelerating industrialization and manufacturing in Africa.