Africa upbeat on China's reforms

As China rolled out a series of new measures to further deepen reform and advance Chinese modernization, political party leaders and officials from African countries said they are confident the country will fulfill its set goals and bring benefits not only to itself, but also to the rest of the world.

They made the remarks on Wednesday after being briefed about the third plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China Central Committee in Changsha, capital of Hunan province.

"Many foreign friends asked us to provide information on the session at the earliest time possible so that they will know more about the major measures that China will take for Chinese modernization," said Lu Kang, vice-minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee.

Noting that it was the first such briefing for foreign guests shortly after the session concluded last week and adopted a landmark resolution covering more than 300 reform measures in various fields and aspects, Lu said it shows the great attention that China pays to sharing experiences of governance with African countries.

Obert Mpofu, secretary-general of the ruling ZANU PF party of Zimbabwe, said he is paying attention to almost every aspect of the resolution because "they taught us about how China's reforms are conducted".

Mpofu said he has witnessed, through visits to different cities over the past three days, how China has achieved rapid development by taking reform measures and policies, especially under strong leadership.

"Once the resolution is adopted, it will serve as the road map for implementing reform decisions. So, we are really learning a lot from China," he said.

Marvin Fanny, vice-president of United Seychelles, said he was happy to know that some of the reform measures as outlined in the resolution are about the environment and ecosystem.

Blue economy

As Seychelles has embarked on a strategy for sustainable development called "Blue Economy", Fanny said that "China can also get involved with us to help us in achieving this endeavor and to pioneer the blue economy".

The young leader also said China's commitment to promoting unilateral opening-up to the world's least-developed countries will certainly benefit African countries through cooperation with China in terms of infrastructure, industrial capacity, training and education, among others.

Khalid Boudali, presiding officer of the African Union Economic Social and Cultural Council, said that China has been committed to opening up.

"As we land here in China, we have seen that the Chinese cities are very well developed," he said.

He believes that the goals set in the resolution will surely be accomplished. "I think this is not a challenge for China because Chinese people have the will, the leadership and the political stability and also the good governance (for realizing them)," Boudali added.

Maged Refaat Aboulmagd, an ambassador member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, said he was quite astonished when he read about the resolution during his flight to China.

"When China talks about the intention (to make reforms), it gets really serious into the fields of high-tech technology and high-quality innovation," he said, noting that the main purpose of the reforms is about creating better lives and meeting aspirations of the people.

"I think most of the world will be watching really how China is trying to reinvent itself and to reinvent how it is perceived in the world …because determined people make change," he said.