On November 2, 2009, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a briefing for the Chinese and foreign media on Premier Wen Jiabao's upcoming official visit to Egypt and his attendance of the opening ceremony of the 4th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). Assistant Foreign Minister Zhai Jun and Vice Minister of Commerce Chen Jian respectively briefed the journalists on the relations between China and Egypt and other Arab countries, China-Africa cooperation and the background of the conference. Deputy Director-General Qin Gang of the Information Department moderated the briefing.

Zhai Jun said that 2009 marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of strategic cooperative relationship between China and Egypt. Invited by Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, Premier Wen Jiabao will pay an official visit to Egypt from November 6 to 7. This is Premier Wen's second visit to Egypt after 2006, the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Egypt is the first Arab and African country to establish the diplomatic tie with new China and among the first group of developing countries that have established strategic cooperative relations with China. China-Egypt relations have been developing smoothly; high-level exchanges get increasingly frequent; and mutual political trust has been constantly deepened. The trade and investment cooperation between the two countries also developed rapidly. Last year, the bilateral trade volume exceeded 6 billion U.S. dollars. The scale of mutual investment is expanding. The cooperation in culture, education, science, technology, health, agriculture, tourism and other fields becomes more comprehensive, practical and fruitful. The two countries maintained close coordination in international and multilateral arenas. The two countries cooperated well within the framework of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. The connotation of China-Egypt strategic and cooperative relations was enriched.

Zhai Jun said that during Premier Wen's visit to Egypt, he would visit the Arab League headquarters in Cairo. China maintained the traditional friendship with the Arab countries. The friendly cooperation in various fields developed steadily. China and the Arab countries maintained coordination and cooperation on major regional and international issues. The mutually beneficial relations in economy and trade developed rapidly. China's trade volume with the Arab countries increased to 132.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2008 from 36.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2004, representing an average annual growth of 38%.

Zhai Jun said that the Arab League is an important regional organization. In recent years, the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Arab League and the Arab Summit have adopted a series of resolutions on their relations with China, which stressed adhering to the one-China principle and strengthening the Arab states' relations with China, which the Chinese side highly appreciates. When President Hu Jintao visited the Arab League headquarters in January 2004, the two sides announced the establishment of China-Arab Cooperation Forum. At present the Forum has set up more than ten mechanisms covering politics, economy, culture and other fields. At the Third Ministerial Conference of the Forum in May 2008, the two sides agreed to establish a new China-Arab partnership for peace and sustainable development. Under the new situation, China will continue to strengthen coordination and cooperation with the Arab League, advance the mutually beneficial cooperation and jointly promote the cause of regional peace and development.

Zhai Jun said that the 4th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation will be held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt from November 8 to 9. It is the first ministerial conference since the Beijing Summit in 2006 and an important diplomatic activity for the Chinese government this year. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, together with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the heads of state or government of some African countries will attend the opening ceremony of the conference and other related activities. Foreign ministers of the Forum members and ministers responsible for foreign economic cooperation will attend the conference. The conference is held in such a context that the international situation is constantly changing, the impact of international financial crisis continues to spread and the China-Africa relations are facing new opportunities and challenges; therefore the conference is of great significance for further deepening the China-Africa cooperation.

Zhai Jun said that the theme of conference is to deepen the new type of China-Africa strategic partnership and seek for sustainable development. The main tasks are to assess the implementation of follow-up actions of the Beijing Summit and develop the China-Africa cooperation plan for the next three years. Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, one of the two honorary chairmen of the Chinese Follow-up Committee of FOCAC will deliver a report on the implementation of the follow-up actions of the Beijing Summit at the conference. The two sides reached preliminary agreement that the conference will adopt two documents, the Sharm el-Sheikh Declaration of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation - Sharm el-Sheikh Action Plan (2010-2012). Before the conference, the 7th Senior Officials Meeting and the Third China-Africa Entrepreneurs Conference will be held. During the conference, the photo exhibition on the outcome of the follow-up actions of the Beijing Summit will be held. In addition, the China-Africa Women's Forum, China-Africa Youth Festival, China-Africa press seminars, exchanges between Sino-African non-governmental friendship organizations and other activities will also be held.

Zhai Jun said that at present, the preparations for the conference are proceeding smoothly. Egypt, the chair country of the conference, has done tremendous amount of coordination and organization. "I believe that with the joint efforts of Egypt, China and African countries, the conference will be a complete success."

Chen Jian said that the Beijing Summit has pushed the China-Africa friendly relations to a new development stage. The bilateral cooperation in the fields of economy and trade is constantly expanding, the economic exchanges get increasingly frequent and the level of cooperation has substantially lifted.

First, the trade between China and Africa witnessed rapid growth. In 2008 the trade volume reached 106.8 billion U.S. dollars, two times of that in 2006 and 10 times of that in 2000. The goal of reaching 100 billion U.S. dollars by 2010, which was proposed by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at the Beijing Summit, was achieved two years in advance. The Chinese side has taken such measures as giving the least developed African countries tariff-free treatment for the import of some of their products to China and sending procurement delegations to facilitate the export of African commodities to China. Impacted by the international financial crisis, the trade volume between China and Africa fell in the first 3 quarters of 2009, but the decline pace slowed down month by month.

Second, China's investment to Africa has steadily increased. As of the end of 2008, China's direct investment to Africa totaled 7.8 billion U.S. dollars. From January to September this year, Chinese enterprises' direct investment to Africa reached 875 million U.S. dollars (non-financial), a year-on-year increase of 77.5%. According to statistics, China has set up nearly 1,600 enterprises in Africa involving agriculture, telecom, energy, manufacturing and other areas.

Third, the cooperation in the infrastructure field is productive. African countries obtained infrastructure with excellent quality. Such cooperation has effectively reduced construction costs, accelerated the pace of economic development and improved self-development capacity of Africa.

Fourth, the assistance to Africa has achieved remarkable results. China has in its power offered assistance to 53 African countries over the past 50 years and more. China's assistance to Africa is out of the needs of the African side. China has never attached any political conditions to the assistance. China has focused on projects concerning the people's livelihood, such as helping Africa in infrastructure development, increasing agricultural production, and improving the medical and educational conditions, which greatly enhanced local economic and social development. So far, China has aided nearly 900 projects in African countries. More than half of the projects are related to the people's livelihood.

Chen Jian stressed that eight initiatives on strengthening the China-Africa pragmatic cooperation announced by Chinese President Hu Jintao on behalf of the Chinese government have been fully implemented. China has achieved the goal of doubling the aid to Africa. The initiative to expand the range of goods enjoying zero-tariff has been completely carried out. The work of debt exemption to Africa has basically been completed. The China-Africa Development Fund has been launched. A large number of important cooperative projects have been completed or are under way. Parts of economic and trade cooperation zones have taken shape. The establishment of hospitals, malaria prevention and treatment centers, agricultural technology demonstration centers, and rural schools is proceeding smoothly. The Chinese youth volunteers and senior agricultural technology experts to Africa have taken offices in succession.

- Infrastructure and public projects: China has provided free assistance, interest-free loans, concessional loans and preferential export buyer's credit. China undertook nearly 200 large-scale construction projects in African countries.

- Supporting poverty reduction in Africa and the improvement of the livelihood of the people: doubling aid in three years. 100 rural schools assisted by China will help 30,000 children go to school, and 30 medical stations will increase the capacity of more than 4,000 beds for medical treatment. The malaria prevention and control cooperation involves more than 30 countries and benefits hundreds of millions of people. The agricultural cooperation has brought the Chinese advanced agricultural production technologies and crop varieties to the African countries.

- Transfer of technology and personnel training: China held 660 training workshops for officials and technicians of African countries over the three years. China invited 16,000 people to China and held various training programs in Africa.

- Promoting economic development in Africa: China expanded the range of duty-free goods and increased import from African countries. The Ethiopia glass factory invested by the China-Africa Development Fund filled the blank in the local industry. Six economic and trade cooperation zones were established in Zambia, Egypt, Mauritius, Nigeria, and Ethiopia. The economic and trade cooperation zone in Zambia reached a certain scale and created 6,000 jobs for local community.

In order to support the African Union's efforts to promote the African integration process, the Conference Center assisted by China for the African Union has broke ground. It will be a landmark architecture reaching advanced level in the world.

According to Chen Jian, President Hu Jintao stated during his visit to Africa earlier this year that the Chinese side will continue to increase the assistance to Africa, relieve and exempt the debt of African countries, expand the trade and investment to Africa and strengthen the China-Africa pragmatic cooperation within the utmost capacity. The Chinese side will earnestly implement the relevant commitments made by President Hu Jintao. China will also announce new measures to advance pragmatic cooperation with Africa at the forthcoming Fourth Ministerial Conference of the Forum and promote the cooperation between China and Africa in agriculture, food security, infrastructure construction, trade, investment, health care and other fields. "I believe that these new measures will further strengthen the solidarity and cooperation between China and Africa so that the two sides can join hands to cope with the international financial crisis and achieve common development."

They also answered the questions raised by journalists.