China will extend a total of 60 billion U.S. dollars of financing to Africa, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced Monday. The financing will be provided in the form of government assistance as well as investment and financing by financial institutions and companies, Xi said in a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). The financing includes 15 billion U.S. dollars of grants, interest-free loans and concessional loans, 20 billion U.S. dollars of credit lines, the setting up of a 10-billion-U.S. dollars special fund for development financing and a 5-billion-U.S. dollars special fund for financing imports from Africa. Chinese companies are also encouraged to make at least 10 billion U.S. dollars of investment in Africa in the next three years. China has honored its 2015 promise to provide Africa with funding support totaling 60 billion U.S. dollars, Xi said, adding that the financing has been either delivered or arranged. China decided to provide the funding support at the FOCAC Johannesburg summit to ensure the successful implementation of ten China-Africa cooperation plans adopted at the summit. President Xi said China will implement eight major initiatives with African countries in the next three years and beyond, covering fields such as industrial promotion, infrastructure connectivity, trade facilitation, and green development. On industrial promotion, the Asian nation said that China-Africa economic and trade expo will be set up in China and Chinese companies are encouraged to increase investment in Africa. China also aims at increasing imports, especially non-resource products, from Africa and support African countries in participating in China International Import Expo. The least developed African countries will be exempted from paying exhibition stand fees, he said. China maintained that they pursue common interests and puts friendship first in cooperation to boost mutual benefit and growth. Xi also called for the building of a China-Africa community with a shared future that assumes joint responsibility, pursues win-win cooperation, delivers happiness for all, enjoys cultural prosperity, ensures common security, and promotes harmony between man and nature. Building a stronger China-Africa community with a shared future will set a model for the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, he said. Xinhua
