Accusations regarding China's efforts to assist African countries in poverty reduction and common development as new colonial attempts are groundless, said Xu Jinghu, the special envoy of China for African affairs.

Xu made her speech at a press conference held at the Media Center of the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) on Sept. 4.

"Cyril Ramaphosa, the president of South Africa, announced on Sept. 3 that all African countries disagree with any accusations of new colonialism in African countries," Xu said.

"Both the African representatives and the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres spoke highly of the friendship between China and the African countries, believing that the friendship can withstand the test of time," Xu said.

They also recommended China's strategies for poverty alleviation to be implemented in African countries, Xu added.

Regarding the US$60 billion in funding that Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to offer to African countries, Xu said, "The implementation of the US$60 billion fund must be a win-win cooperation decided between China and Africa under terms of equality."

According to Xu, there will be cooperative studies on the feasibility of projects involving the use of the fund which can help ensure the self-development of African countries in need of funding, human resources and infrastructure.

Periodic global economic fluctuations and the fall in the prices of raw materials have aggravated the debt burden of African countries. However, among the entire international community, China is not the biggest creditor to Africa. At the same time China will increase its non-resource imports from Africa, Xu said.

On Monday, in his opening remarks to the Summit, President Xi proposed eight initiatives, including industrial promotion, infrastructure connectivity, trade facilitation, and green development, for the common development and win-win cooperation between China and African countries.

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