CPAFFC President Lin Songtian meets Rwanda ambassador

Zhang Peng

O n Apr 21， Lin Songtian， president of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries， met with James Kimonyo， Rwanda’s ambassador to China. They had in-depth exchanges on bilateral and China-Africa relations， as well as on international issues of common concern. They reached broad consensus. Sun Xueqing， director-general of the CPAFFC’s department of Asian and African affairs， also attended the meeting.

Lin spoke highly of relations between China and Rwanda， noting that under the guidance of their respective leaders relations have been steadily upgraded to new heights in recent years. The friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields has yielded fruitful results， and the friendship between the two countries has been embedded in people’s hearts.

Lin expressed appreciation for Rwanda’s firm support for China’s position on matters of core interest， including Taiwan， Hong Kong， Tibet and Xinjiang.

He introduced China’s Africa policy and the outcomes of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation，saying that China has always honored its promises and is committed to helping Africa enhance its capacity for independent and sustainable development. The fruits of cooperation have brought tangible benefits to its people， he said.

The United States and the West have churned out a lot of slogans about their Africa policies， paying lip service but failing to deliver， he said.

Lin said that the ongoing crisis in Ukraine has seriously undermined the world economic order and the stability of global industrial and supply chains， caused global food and energy crises and stagflation and worsened the already sluggish recovery of the world economy. The less-developed and least-developed countries in Africa are particularly vulnerable to severe famine and other threats to production， survival and security， he said， and it is unfair for the people of the world to pay the bill while only certain countries benefit from the crisis.

Only when the people of the world， especially the people of Europe and the US， wake up and uphold justice， can war and crisis come to an end and peace and prosperity come to be shared.

Lin said the CPAFFC is willing to strengthen cooperation with the embassy of Rwanda in China to actively promote friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation between local governments， friendship cities， traditional leaders and youth think tanks to bring more benefits to the people.

Ambassador Kimonyo spoke highly of bilateral relations and China’s policies， ideas and actions towards Africa. He said Rwanda and China have always supported each other in sincere friendship， solidarity and cooperation and he thanked China for its strong support in energy， infrastructure and healthcare. He looks forward to deepening bilateral exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation in an all-around way， especially in people-to-people areas， so as to further enhance understanding， friendship and mutual trust between the two peoples.

Kimonyo attributed China’s rapid and successful development to the extraordinary leadership of the Communist Party of China and the great strength and solidarity of the country’s 56 ethnic groups. The miracle of China’s successful development not only inspires African countries and people， but also sets an example for global poverty reduction and common progress of mankind， he said.

Kimonyo said the African side highly appreciates the nine programs proposed by President Xi Jinping at the eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and is confident that Africa will achieve independent and sustainable development with China’s firm support.