ＣＰＰＣＣ Ｖｉｃｅ Ｃｈａｉｒｍａｎ Ａｂｄｕｌ’ａｈａｔ Ａｂｄｕｌｒｉｘｉｔ Ｖｉｓｉｔｓ Ａｌｇｅｒｉａ，Ｅｔｈｉｏｐｉａ Ａｎｄ Ｋｅｎｙａ

At the invitation of Said Bouhadja， president of the Algero-Chinese Parliamentary Friendship Group of the People’s National Assembly of Algeria; Degefe Bula， speaker of the House of Federation of Ethiopia; and Kenneth Marende， speaker of the National Assembly of Kenya， Abdul’ahat Abdulrixit， vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and president of the Chinese-African People’s Friendship Association (CAPFA)， led a CAPFA delegation to pay a goodwill visit to Algeria， Ethiopia and Kenya from April 24 to May 5.The three countries attached great importance to the delegation’s visit and accorded it high-level reception.

During the visit in the three countries， CPPCC Vice Chairman Abdul’ahat Abdulrixit met with Abdelaziz Ziari， speaker of the National People’s Assembly of Algeria; Abdelkader Bensalah， speaker of the National Council of Algeria; Degefe Bula， speaker of the House of Federation of Ethiopia; Kenneth Marende， speaker of the National Assembly of Kenya; Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka， vice president of Kenya， and had talks with Said Bouhadja， president of the Algero-Chinese Parliamentary Friendship Group of the People’s National Assembly of Algeria， and Maalim Farah， deputy speaker of the Kenyan National Assembly.

During his visit in Algeria， Vice Chairman Abdul’ahat was interviewed by journalists from the Xinhua News Agency， inspected the construction site of the building project invested by the Guangsha Holding Venture Capital Co.， Ltd. On April 29 he attended the 4th Seminar on Exchanges between Chinese and African Local Governments—China and Ethiopia Round held inAddis Ababa.

Bilateral Relations

When meeting with the leaders of the three countries， Vice Chairman Abdul’ahat spoke highly of China’s relations with the three countries. He said， China maintains profound traditional friendship with the three countries and the Chinese Government attaches great importance to developing relations with them. In recent years， China and the three countries have kept frequent high-level exchanges. The mutual political trust between them has been enhanced， and the cooperation in economy， trade and other areas has been fruitful. They have supported each other and collaborated closely in international affairs. China thanks and appreciates the consistent support given by the leaders of the three countries on the issues concerning China’s core interests.

Speaker Abdelaziz Ziari said， the long-standing friendship between Algeria and China dates from the period of the Algerian War of Independence. Despite their different political views， the Algerian political parties all agree to develop relations with China and always remember the help China rendered to their country during the Algerian War of Independence.

President Said Bouhadja said， the Algerian people have got firm support and great help from China both in the war for national independence and in the country’s economic construction. The friendship between Algeria and China has struck root in the hearts of the people. The two countries hold identical stands on many international issues. Algeria appreciates the importance China attaches to developing relations with Africa.

Speaker Degefe Bula said， in the past China rendered great help to the African people in their fight against colonialism， and now China is actively taking part in Africa’s economic construction. Across the African continent it can be seen that the China-aided infrastructural projects are warmly accepted by the African people， and have promoted the fast development of African and Ethiopian economy. If one travels in Ethiopia’s cities and countryside， he can see workers of the two countries working side by side to create a good future for Ethiopia. Ethiopia has given China consistent and firm support on the issues concerning China’s major interests， and will， as always， be China’s trustworthy partner and friend.

Kenyan Vice President Musyoka stressed， Kenya and China have always been good friends. The Kenyan Government unswervingly pursues the one-China policy. The two countries hold identical stands on many international issues. Kenya highly praises China’s principle of noninterference in the internal affairs of other countries in its relationship with other countries.

China-Africa Cooperation

On the ongoing international financial crisis， Vice Chairman Abdul’ahat said， China pays attention to the difficulties and challenges that African countries are confronting in their economic and social development， and is willing to cooperate with the African people to tide over the crisis. During his visit to Africa in February and the G-20 London Summit in early April this year， President Hu Jintao said explicitly that China will earnestly implement the aid-Africa measures adopted at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation， continue to increase its aid to Africa and reduce and exempt debts owed by African countries within its capability， expand trade with and investment in Africa and strengthen substantial cooperation. China is willing to work together with African countries to ensure a steady and healthy development of Sino-African cooperation and make new contributions to fighting off the effects of the financial crisis and enhancing the well-being of the Chinese and African people. The leaders of the three countries highly praised and warmly welcomed China’s stand， saying that this reflects China’s firm support to African countries. They expressed the hope to continuously strengthen substantial cooperation with China in all fields so as to achieve mutual benefits and win-win progress.

Abdelkader Bensalah said China enjoys a good reputation in Algeria. The bilateral cooperation has reached a very high level both in scale and quality. He hoped that more Chinese businessmen would come to Algeria to do business and that the parliaments of the two countries would strengthen coordination and reach more consensuses on the international arena.

Degefe Bula said， in the current international financial crisis， Ethiopia and China should strengthen coordination and cooperation in seeking ways of overcoming the crisis. China’s interest in Africa will be conducive to Africa’s economic development. The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and China’s investment in Ethiopia have brought a lot of benefits to Ethiopia. Ethiopiwill continue to deepen bilateral substantial cooperation in the framework of the forum and further strengthen exchanges between the local governments and enterprises of the two countries.

Kenneth Marende said， Kenya and China maintain good cooperative relations. There are many China-aided projects in Kenya. Even now many Chinese enterprises are still engaged in building highways and the construction of other infrastructural projects in Kenya. He hoped that in the future the two countries would continue strengthening cooperation in the above fields. In recent years， quite a number of Kenyan assemblymen have visited China.He hoped that the parliaments of the two countries would further strengthen exchanges and cooperation and consolidate and promote traditional friendship between the two countries.

Nongovernmental Exchanges

During his visit to the three countries， Vice Chairman Abdul’ahat briefed the African side on the CAPFA and its major work. He said， while governmental exchanges between China and African countries are being carried out smoothly， nongovernmental exchanges between the two sides have also achieved remarkable development. The CAPFA is willing to work together with African countries and play a positive role in further enhancing the friendship， mutual understanding and cooperation between the Chinese and African people. The leaders of the three countries expressed their agreement to this and hoped to increase nongovernmental contacts.

Said Bouhadja said， the Algero-Chinese Parliamentary Friendship Groupplays an important role in promoting exchanges between Algeria and China in various fields. He hoped that friendship should be kept not only between the high ranking leaders of the two countries， but also go deep into the parliament， the local governments， various trades and professions and the ordinary people.

Degefe Bula expressed his sincere thanks to the CAPFA for choosing Ethiopia to host the Fourth Seminar on Exchanges between Chinese and African Local Governments—China and Ethiopia Round. He said， the seminar has provided Ethiopian and Chinese local governments with a platform to carry out constant dialogue and exchanges and will help expand and deepen the existing good relations between the two countries and enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples.

Deputy Speaker Maalim Farah of the Kenyan National Assembly spoke highly of the efforts made by the CAPFA over these years to develop nongovernmental friendly relations between Africa and China， and hoped the two countries would further strengthen exchanges and cooperation between the parliaments and the people， and in agriculture， tourism and other fields.