China, Africa share harvest of strong ties

In the 1970s, golden rice fields shimmered under the sun in rural areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Chinese agricultural experts rolled up their pants and stood ankle-deep in muddy paddies, working hand in hand with local farmers to share irrigation and planting techniques.

Those early efforts left a legacy that went far beyond agriculture. The grains of rice that took root in African soil also sowed the seeds of an enduring friendship between the peoples of China and the Central African nation, said Daniel Mukoko Samba, vice-prime minister and minister of national economy of the DRC.

"I once met a woman who had been growing rice for more than 35 years," the vice-prime minister recalled in an interview with China Daily. "She told me that it was thanks to the guidance of Chinese experts that she learned how to cultivate rice and improve her family's life."

"The image of Chinese agricultural technicians working side by side with our farmers remains deeply moving to this day," he said. "That cooperation not only brought tangible progress to our agricultural sector, but also laid a lasting foundation for friendship between our peoples."

He noted that the friendship between the Chinese and Congolese peoples is deeply rooted in history and has long been characterized by sincerity, mutual respect and genuine connection.

The DRC attaches great importance to its economic and trade cooperation with China, he said. He expressed hope that more Chinese enterprises would invest and establish businesses in the country to promote industrial upgrading, move beyond raw resource exports toward localized processing and production, enhance the DRC's position in global value chains, and advance a strategic transformation of its economic structure.

The vice-prime minister said China's development path offers a valuable reference for other developing nations.

"China has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty," he said. "This experience is of great significance for Africa, which continues to face challenges related to economic and technological dependency."

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the start of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and African countries.

On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Wang Yi kicked off his visit to Ethiopia, Somalia, Tanzania and Lesotho, during which he will attend the launching ceremony of the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges at the African Union's headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The six-day visit marks the 36th consecutive year that Africa has been the destination for the Chinese foreign minister's first overseas trip of the year.

Speaking at a daily news briefing on Wednesday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said China aims to deepen political mutual trust with all parties, promote the implementation of outcomes from the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, and strengthen exchanges and mutual learning between the two great civilizations of China and Africa.

Somalia's Ambassador to China Hodan Osman Abdi said she welcomes Wang's visit to her country at the beginning of the new year, noting that the Chinese foreign minister's tradition of making Africa the first overseas destination each year highlights China's firm commitment to Africa and to South-South cooperation.

"Somalia is a resource-rich country with significant development potential, and we are eager to further strengthen Sino-Somali cooperation, particularly in infrastructure development and in transforming our natural resources into tangible benefits for our people," she added.

Yoro Diallo, a Malian scholar and director of the African Museum at Zhejiang Normal University, said Chinese modernization with its own characteristics is "based on opening-up", and its spirit is "sharing possibilities".

Countries across the continent stand to benefit from this progress, as China-Africa cooperation is built on mutual respect, tangible results and sincere friendship, he added.

Such assessments are also reflected in the concrete outcomes of China-Africa cooperation over the years. In the past 25 years, China has helped Africa build and upgrade nearly 100,000 kilometers of roads and more than 10,000 km of railways. From 2022 to 2024, Chinese companies provided more than 1.1 million jobs in Africa, and China remained Africa's largest trading partner for 16 consecutive years as of 2024.

Chakil Aboobacar, secretary-general of the Frelimo Party of Mozambique, said that China and Africa, working hand in hand toward modernization, are creating a brighter future for both sides.

Under the China-Africa cooperation framework, a series of agricultural laboratories have become vital platforms for research into rice, potato and cashew varieties in Mozambique.

"These efforts have helped train local technical talent, improve productivity and optimize planting structures," Aboobacar said.

Julius Ihonvbere, majority leader of Nigeria's House of Representatives, said China's decision to expand market access for Africa — including zero-tariff treatment covering 100 percent of tariff lines for all 53 African countries with diplomatic ties to China — represents a genuinely "progressive" approach.

"I believe what President Xi Jinping is creating is an environment that allows African countries to reach the highest level of their productive and creative abilities," Ihonvbere said.

"When that happens, GDP per capita will rise, quality of life will improve, and poverty will decline — and when poverty goes down, conflicts go down. People can live in peace and care."

After a recent visit to Zhejiang province — a hub of entrepreneurship and private enterprise in eastern China — Ihonvbere said he was struck by the scale and vitality of the province's cooperation projects with African countries. At the Yiwu Global Digital Trade Center, he explored cutting-edge technologies, including internet of things sensing, artificial intelligence and big data applications.

Ihonvbere said he was particularly impressed by China's innovation-driven development model. "The AI products I observed could help address many of the problems we face in Africa," he noted.

Looking ahead, he emphasized the importance of people-to-people ties, saying, "There are few countries as good as China when it comes to people-to-people cooperation." He added that the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges will further deepen mutual understanding between the two sides.

Ihonvbere said he was also deeply moved to see so many African students studying in China, many of them pursuing engineering, computer science and African studies through Chinese government scholarships.

These students gain a deep understanding of Chinese values and culture, he said, noting that some speak Mandarin fluently."When they return home, they become vital bridges connecting our peoples and carrying this friendship into the future."

zhaojia@chinadaily.com.cn