Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao called on Thursday for joint efforts to build a new type of strategic partnership between China and Africa.

"China will continue to work with Africa and make innovative efforts in keeping with the trend of the times to widen our cooperation and enrich and inject new vitality into it," the Chinese president said when addressing the National Assembly in the Nigerian capital of Abuja.

Hu made his remarks on the second day of a two-day visit to the west African country at the invitation of Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo. 

Five-point proposal on promoting China-Africa strategic partnership

Earlier this year, Hu said, the Chinese government issued China's African Policy, spelling out the goals of carrying forward the traditional Chinese-African friendship and building a new type of strategic partnership for a new era.

In order to achieve this goal Hu put forward a five-point proposal in his speech entitled "Work Together to Forge aNew Type of China-Africa Strategic Partnership."

-- To build a new type of strategic partnership China and Africa should strengthen political mutual trust.

"China will maintain close contact with African countries at leadership level and promote communication and exchanges between governments, parliaments, political parties and non-governmental organizations of our two sides to enhance mutual understanding and friendship," Hu said.

"China is committed to the effective function of the Forum of China-Africa Cooperation and will continue to enhance its cooperation with the African Union and other sub-regional organizations and regional multilateral institutions in Africa to strengthen collective dialogue, broaden consensus and expand common interests," the president said.

-- China and Africa should expand win-win economic cooperation.

With rich resources and market potential on Africa's part and available, effective practices and practical know-how gained in the course of modernization on China's part cooperation between the two countries had broad prospects, Hu observed.

"To enlarge the scope of China-Africa cooperation and diversify ways of conducting such cooperation and enable both sides to draw on their comparative strengths is in our mutual interests," said the Chinese president.

"China will make continued efforts to extend our cooperation in trade to investment, technology and project contracting and to encourage companies and other economic entities to join our governments in conducting economic cooperation," the president added.

Reiterating China's commitment to providing assistance to African countries to the best of its ability, Hu said China would also pay more attention to knowledge-based cooperation with Africa.

-- To build a new type of strategic partnership China and Africa should increase cultural interaction.

Both were home to splendid cultures. China and Africa had made important contributions to the progress of human civilization, Hu said, adding that the countries should strengthen cultural exchanges and draw on each other's culture to increase mutual understanding and friendship.

"China supports enhanced cooperation between cultural institutions, media, academic groups and institutions of higher learning of the two sides and would be happy to host cultural festivals, arts exhibitions and sports events with Africa," Hu said.

-- To build a new type of strategic partnership China and Africa should strengthen security cooperation.

Hu said China and African should strengthen exchanges and consultation and promote collective security in the international community and a new security concept featuring mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation.

"To jointly meet global challenges, China will strengthen consultation and cooperation with Africa in non-traditional security areas such as the prevention and control of major infectious diseases, bird flu and the fight against transnational crimes," Hu said.

China supported the African Union and other regional organizations and countries in Africa in their efforts to promote regional peace and would increase its input and take an active part in the UN-led peacekeeping operations in Africa, he added.

"China is ready to play a constructive role and help the African countries settle their differences and disputes," Hu said.

-- In order to build a new type of strategic partnership China and Africa should maintain close coordination in international affairs.

Reaffirming China's appreciation for the important role played by Africa in international affairs, Hu said China and Africa shared extensive common positions and had a good tradition of cooperation on major international issues.

"To strengthen coordination and cooperation in major international affairs meets our mutual interests," he said.

"China will continue to take an active part in the building of a New Asia-Africa Strategic Partnership and other mechanisms for South-South Cooperation and North-South Dialogue," Hu said.

Africa's hopes for peace and development deserved respect and the international community should be more focused on development and increase assistance to Africa, said the Chinese president.

China would continue to work for more progress in UN reform to make the organization place greater emphasis on development issues and address as a top priority the under-representation of developing countries, including African countries, he said. 

In his speech, the Chinese president also reviewed the time-honored friendship as the year of 2006 marks the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of diplomatic relations between the People's Republic of China and African countries.

Over the past 50 years, China and Africa have increased mutual understanding, supported and helped each other, fostered profound friendship and fruitful progress has been made in China-Africa cooperation, Hu said.

China would like to carry on the traditional friendship with Africa, strengthen comprehensive cooperation and endeavor to forge a new type of strategic partnership between China and Africa, the president said.

China committed to safeguarding world peace
 
In his speech, President Hu said China was committed to safeguarding world peace and would work with other countries to enhance global security and stability.

"To China its own development is an integral part of the progress of mankind," he said. "China will develop itself by maintaining a peaceful international environment and its own development, in turn, enables China to promote world peace." 

The Chinese people will hold high the banner of peace, development and cooperation, pursue an independent foreign policy of peace, peaceful development and continue the opening-up strategy for mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, the Chinese president said.

He noted that China was committed to pursuing common development.

"China draws on progress in world economic and scientific development to develop itself," he said. "With its own development it in turn makes due contribution to the world." 

President Hu said China would continue to work for economic globalization to develop in a more balanced way and bring benefit to all.

He added that China was committed to promoting exchanges among civilizations saying, "China is firm in upholding the diversity of the world and diversified models of development.

"Countries should respect and learn from each other and different civilizations should coexist in harmony, benefit from each other through exchanges and competition and seek common development by expanding common ground and shelving differences," said the president.

History has proved and would continue to prove that China's development was peaceful, open and cooperative in nature, said Hu. "China's development will not pose a threat to anyone. On the contrary it will bring more development opportunities to the word," he said.

President Hu arrived on Wednesday for his first state visit to the west African country.

The Chinese president met his Nigerian counterpart Olusegun Obasanjo on Wednesday and the two leaders agreed to work on a strategic plan for the future growth of bilateral relations to push forward the strategic partnership between the two countries.

Chinese President Hu Jintao Thursday ended the two-day state visit to Nigeria and left for Kenya, the last leg of his current five-nation tour. Hu started the five-nation tour earlier this month. He has visited the United States, Saudi Arabia and Morocco.

(Xinhua News Agency April 28, 2006)