Africa is an important partner in the development of the Belt and Road Initiative, said Ma Zhaoxu, China's permanent representative to the United Nations at a high-level symposium on the Chinese initiative at UN Headquarters.
The initiative is to meet the needs of Africa and pursue mutual benefits without imposing political conditions. The initiative will give help to Africa based on respect, and advance friendship and benefits with priority given to friendship, said Ma.
The Belt and Road Initiative involves more than 20 African countries, including Egypt, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Cameroon and South Africa. Cooperation agreements have been reached on 39 major projects, covering 17 areas such as railway, highway, port and power generation.
With strong support from the Chinese government and companies, Ethiopia's first national industrial park, Hawassa Industrial Park, entered into operation in 2017 and created 60,000 jobs and an annual revenue of 1 billion U.S. dollars for Ethiopia.
New infrastructure has been built in Africa, including industrial zones, railways, motorways, airports and power plants, giving a strong boost to the development of the African continent.
Within the Belt and Road Initiative framework, the governments of China and Cambodia have jointly constructed Sihanoukville Special Economy Zone. More than 100 companies from the United States, Japan, Italy and other countries and regions have established presence there. The Special Economy Zone has created over 20,000 jobs and its total output contributed more than 50 percent to the economy of Sihanoukville Province.
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