African Friends Happily Gather Together in China

In the summer of 2009， the CPAFFC held the first training course for leading members of the African friendship-with-China organizations. A total of 36 trainees came from 19 countries， namely Djibouti， Togo， Benin， Democratic Republic of Congo， Mauritania， Mali， Algeria， Guinea-Bissau， Guinea， Senegal， Burundi， Cote d’Ivoire， Morocco， Gabon， Madagascar， Central Africa， Comoros， Mauritius and Niger. Quite a number of the trainees were making their first visit and were eager to know about present-day China. For this reason， we invited experts and scholars from the Foreign Ministry， the Ministry of Commerce， the Ministry of Culture， the Communication University of China， the Development Research Center of the State Council， Xinhua News Agency， China Radio International， the Beijing Municipal Tourist Bureau and Huawei Technologies Co.， Ltd. to give lectures on China-Africa non-governmental diplomacy， China’s African policy， China’s policy on aid to Africa and its aid projects， China-Africa cultural exchanges， China-Africa exchanges and cooperation in the fields of media and information technology. The trainees made favorable comments on the lectures and said that they would further strengthen exchanges and contacts with the CPAFFC to promote closer relations. They also visited Guangdong Province where many African expatriates live. They visited the Guangdong Traditional Chinese Medicine Museum， Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GUFS)， Xinhui Agricultural Machinery Co.， Ltd. in Jiangmen and aquaculture projects. The trainees said the projects they visited were practical and closely related to their daily life， and offered much potential for cooperation between China and their own countries.

Ahmed Bah Cheikh Sidiya， a member of the Mauritania-China Friendship Association and Director General of the Department of Rural Development of the Ministry of Agriculture， said excitedly that the small-sized tractors made by China were both affordable and of high quality. Some African countries already have sales outlets for them. The Chinese manufacturers provide after-sale service and train local maintenance technicians， which has been of great help to the development of agriculture in Mauritania. He said he would bring agricultural technical personnel to visit China again and introduce more Chinese agricultural machinery to his country.

Ismail Debeche， President of the Sino-Algerian Friendship Association and professor of international politics of the University of Algiers，warmly invited two teachers of the GUFS to give lectures over a two-month period at his university， which would bear the expense. He also welcomed the teachers and students of the GUFS to undertake summer camp activities in Algeria.

To promote exchanges and cooperation， the CPAFFC and the Chinese Follow-up Action Committee of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) jointly sponsored the first meeting of Chinese and African non-governmental friendship organizations， which the African trainees attended. The local participants were from the All-China Women’s Federation， the All-China Youth Federation， the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT)， the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs， the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences， the China Association for NGO Cooperation (CANGO)， the China NGO Network for International Exchanges， the NGO Research Institute under the School of Public Policy and Management of Tsinghua University， and the Institute of West Asian and African Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Participants had deep discussions on developing the role of the non-governmental organizations and exploring new channels for China-Africa cooperation. The representatives of the Forum on Togo-China Friendship， the Burundi-China Friendship Association， the Algeria-China Friendship Association and the Alliance of the Artists of Djibouti respectively gave briefings about their organizations and activities and put forward suggestions on people-to-people exchanges.

At present， in 32 of the 53 African countries， including Burkina Faso that has not yet established diplomatic relations with China， there are friendship-with-China organizations with members from political， economic， cultural and other areas. Among these organizations the earliest was set up in 1955， and the latest in 2009. They have played an important role in promoting political friendship， economic cooperation and cultural exchanges between Africa and China. The African NGOs that attended the meeting included the Wet of Development and Communication of African Women in Mali， the Alliance of Artists of Djibouti， the Forum on Togo-China Friendship， the Association for Protection of Investors of the Democratic Republic of Congo，the Sino-Algerian Friendship Association， the Association of Cadres for the Promotion of Mao Zedong Thought， the Association ofSierra Leone-China Friendship and Cooperation， the Burundi-China Friendship Association， the Association of the Journalists of Cote d’Ivoire， the Madagascan-Chinese Friendship Association， the Gabonese-Chinese Friendship Association， the Comoros-China Friendship Association， the Mauritius-China Friendship Association， the Morocco Club of Audience on China， the Association for the Green Plan of Niger， the TV Station of Central Africa， etc. These friendship-with-China organizations covering various areas are representational. They followed with great interest China’s policies on Africa in the political， economic and cultural fields， implementation of these policies and prospects of the future development of the Africa-China relations. They hoped that by applying the experiences learned from China to solving their practical problems and to stimulating the activities of the friendship-with-China organizations， they would become the seeds of friendship. The trainees voluntarily set up the network of African countries’ friendship-with-China organizations， deciding that they would keep each other regularly informed of their activities and exchange experiences.

The two-week training course was short， but it left lasting sweet memories in the minds of the African trainees. Through them， the great cause of China-Africa friendship will last from generation to generation.