A senior Chinese leader said in Rabat Thursday that China will always be a "good friend" of Africa, and will never forget its old friends in Africa.
Li Ruihuan, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), made the remarks during a meeting with Moroccan King Mohammed VI in Fes, an ancient city about 190 kilometers to the west of Rabat. Li is on a three-day official goodwill visit to Morocco.
Li told the King that China will always take the friendship of African people by heart, as they in the past sympathized with and supported China on many occasions.
In particular, Li said, China highly appreciates the support from African nations on the human rights issue over the past few years.
"We will follow Comrade Deng Xiaoping's instruction that we should never forget that we belong to the third world, and never forget all poor friends in the third world," Li stressed.
He said that it is always a basic point of China's foreign policy to consolidate and develop China-Africa friendly and cooperative relations.
China supports African country's efforts to safeguard their national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, Li said.
China respects African nations' choice of their political systems and development models, and hopes they will resolve their disputes through peaceful negotiations, he added.
In addition, China calls on the international community to take concrete steps to help the stability and development of African countries, so as to narrow the gap between Africa and other parts of the world.
Li stressed that China highly appreciates and is grateful to Morocco for its firm support on China concerning issues of human rights and Taiwan. The two countries established full diplomatic relations in 1958.
King Mohammed VI said Morocco and China have good political relations and are highly complementary in trade and economic areas.
He believes that the friendly relations between the two countries will grow steadily with the joint efforts of the two sides.
The king also spoke highly of China's Africa policy, and said that African countries are thankful for China's support to their just struggle.
(Xinhua 04/27/2001)
