Friends from the Media,
Good morning! It’s a great pleasure to meet you all.
I believe you have noticed that the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) was successfully held from 17th to 18th October and was attended by over 10,000 registered representatives from 151 countries and 41 international organizations. It’s a historic event which draws great attention. Many Tanzanian friends congratulated me for the success of this Forum and asked me why the Chinese side hosted such a grand event, and what it means for international development cooperation and China-Africa, China-Tanzania cooperation in particular. Today’s press briefing aims at introducing relevant situation of this Forum to you and through you to more Tanzanian people.
My briefing will focus on three issues, namely the Forum’s background, outcomes, and the progress and prospects of China-Tanzania Belt and Road cooperation. After that, I will take your questions.
I. Backgrounder of the Forum
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping. In the past decade, China signed over 200 Belt and Road cooperation documents with more than 150 countries and 30 international organizations. China has conducted more than 3,000 cooperation projects with relevant parties, and catalyzed investment of nearly USD$ 1 trillion. With historical achievement in Belt and Road Cooperation, the BRI has become the most popular international public good and largest international cooperation platform in today’s world. As the BRI marks its first 10th anniversary of prosperity, China hosted this Forum, together with Belt and Road participants, to share ideas, strengthen consensus, and forge synergy, so as to jointly explore new thinking, ways, and measures of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation in the new era and make the BRI a stabilizer and driver for all countries to realize shared development and prosperity.
II. Major outcomes of this Forum
Important consensus and fruitful outcomes were reached at the Forum, four major points of which are as follows:
First, the clearest message from this Forum is unity, cooperation, openness and win-win outcome. As we all know, today’s world is confronted with a multitude of risks, challenges, and uncertainties manifested by the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Ukraine crisis. The forum has sent a clear and unambiguous message to the world, that is, we need unity, cooperation, openness and win-win outcomes, not division, confrontation, isolation or zero-sum mentality. President Xi Jinping pointed out that humankind is a community with a shared future; win-win cooperation is the sure way to success in launching major initiatives that benefit all. Amidst great transformations unseen in a century, Belt and Road cooperation will always bring stability and positive energy to the world.
Second, this Forum ushers in a new stage of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. President Xi Jinping noted that China will work with all parties involved to deepen Belt and Road partnerships of cooperation, and ushers this cooperation into a new stage of high-quality development. Three high-level forums on connectivity, digital economy, and green development, and six thematic forums on trade, people-to-people exchanges, think tanks, clean silk road, sub-national cooperation, and maritime cooperation have been held. Representatives have reached important consensus on emerging fields such as digital economy, artificial intelligence, and blue economy. They also agreed to meet climate challenges together, and step up cooperation on biodiversity protection, which ushers in a new stage of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.
It needs to point out that at the forum, President Xi Jinping put forward the Global Initiative for Artificial Intelligence (AI) Governance, which drew great attention from all sides. The 11-article Initiative, which composes AI development, security, and governance, focuses on development and application of AI technology. It thus provides a blueprint for the formulation of relevant global rules, and plays an important role in promoting consensus through dialogue and cooperation, building an open, fair, and efficient governance system, and making the AI benefit people.
Third, this Forum put forward the most ambitious vision of realizing global modernization through joint efforts. President Xi Jinping pointed out China hopes to realize modernization for all countries including developing countries through joint efforts. President Xi Jinping proposed for the first time that global modernization should be pursued through the joint efforts of all countries to enhance peaceful development, mutually beneficial cooperation and bring prosperity to all. He announced at the opening ceremony that China will further expand market access, and continue to release market potential. Chinese financial institutions will set up new RMB financing windows of 700 billion Chinese yuan, almost equivalent to 100 billion USD. An additional RMB 80 billion will be injected into the Silk Road Fund, more than 10 billion USD. Together, they will support BRI projects on the basis of market and business operation. China will carry out 1,000 small-scale livelihood assistance projects to create more job opportunities for local people.
Fourth, the defining feature of this Forum is that it is action-oriented, efficient and pragmatic. During this Forum, 458 outcomes have been reached, including important cooperation initiatives and institutional arrangements such as the Beijing Initiative for Deepening Cooperation on Connectivity, the Beijing Initiative for Belt and Road Green Development, Beijing Initiative on the Belt and Road International Digital Economy Cooperation. They also include specific targets including providing 100,000 training opportunities on green development for partner countries by 2030, and increasing the number of joint laboratories to 100. Commercial agreements worth 97.2 billion USD have been concluded at the CEO Conference.
III. Progress and prospects of China-Tanzania Belt and Road Cooperation
Dr. Natu El-maamry Mwamba, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance led a delegation to attend this Forum. China and Tanzania have been committed to their Belt and Road cooperation and synergy between BRI and Tanzania Development Vision 2025, providing strong impetus to bilateral relations and trade and economic cooperation. In particular, during President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s historic visit to China in November 2022, President Xi Jinping and President Hassan jointly announced the elevation of China-Tanzania relations to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, and agreed to deepen the high-quality Belt and Road cooperation between the two countries, thereby ushering in a new stage of bilateral relations and friendly cooperation.
Over the past 10 years, our two countries’ cooperation on BRI can be illustrated especially in 4 aspects:
In the field of infrastructure building, we have created landmark projects, and achieved fruitful results in facilities connectivity.
In the field of economy and trade, we have deepened cooperation and improved both quality and efficiency.
In the field of China’s investment in Tanzania, it has achieved remarkable results.
In the field of people-to-people exchanges, we have promoted personnel exchanges, and further consolidated the foundation for popular support and public opinion.
It’s precisely because the BRI benefited all parties that it has been widely welcomed and praised by the Tanzania society. Not long ago, I invited members of Tanzania-China Friendship Group of Parliament of Tanzania to visit Magufuli Bridge and Lot five of SGR, landmark projects of China-Tanzania Belt and Road cooperation. Being satisfied with projects’ construction progress, they told me those two projects are epitomes of Belt and Road cooperation in Tanzania and vividly demonstrate its incentives to Tanzania’s economic and social development.
Recently, numerous Tanzanian media and think tank scholars have penned articles about BRI and BRF in local newspapers. With their personal experience and insightful thoughts, they told touching stories of successful practice of Tanzania-China Belt and Road cooperation and benefits it brought to Tanzanian people. I am deeply impressed that some scholars believe that the BRI is a game-changer to the rules monopolized by the West and bears great relevance for Africa to get rid of impact of colonialism so as to realize independent development.
The year 2024 will witness 60th anniversary of establishment of China-Tanzania relations. The Chinese side would like to take this Forum as an opportunity to work with Tanzanian friends to deal with challenges and seek common development so as to carry on traditional friendship and open a new chapter of China-Tanzania cooperation. It’s hoped that under the eight steps of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation put forward by President Xi Jinping, China and Tanzania could jointly enhance infrastructure connectivity, improve trade and economic exchanges, and deepen mutual beneficial cooperation in such areas as green development, digital economy, and blue economy. With those efforts, we will promote in-depth and stable Belt and Road cooperation and jointly move towards a better future of modernization.