According to CCTV News, on the morning of September 5, the 2024 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation opened in the Great Hall of the People. President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech entitled "Joining Hands to Promote Modernization and Build a Community of Shared Future".
President Xi Jinping announced that China is willing to take the initiative to unilaterally expand market opening and decided to grant zero tariff treatment to 100% of tariff items of all the least developed countries that have established diplomatic relations with China, including 33 African countries; and in the next three years, promote Chinese companies to invest no less than 70 billion yuan in Africa.
The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation was established in 2000. Currently, there are 55 members including China, 53 African countries that have established diplomatic relations with China and the African Union Commission. The theme of this summit is "Joining Hands to Promote Modernization and Build a High-level China-Africa Community of Shared Future". After the opening ceremony, four high-level meetings will be held on the themes of governance, industrialization and agricultural modernization, peace and security, and high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road".
According to the "China-Africa Development Report on the Joint Construction of the Belt and Road Initiative" released in August, China has been Africa's largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years, and the proportion of China-Africa trade in Africa's total foreign trade has steadily increased.
Xu Jianping said that with the support and guarantee of the "soft connectivity" of China-Africa economic and trade rules, China-Africa trade will reach US$282.1 billion in 2023, breaking the historical peak for the second consecutive year; by the end of 2023, China's direct investment in Africa will exceed US$40 billion; in 2024, China-Africa trade and investment will continue to maintain a steady development trend, fully demonstrating the strong vitality and resilience of China-Africa economic and trade cooperation.