With similar historical experiences, the same development goals, and common strategic interests, China and Africa have always been a community of shared destiny, giving our cooperation a dimension of natural complementarity. As developing countries, China and African countries are at similar stages of development. This makes the experience and technologies of China more relevant to Africa's situation and practical needs. China respects the independent will of African countries and supports the development of Africa in good faith, never attaching any political conditions, interfering with domestic affairs, or imposing our own will on African countries. In the "Ten Key Cooperation Plans" proposed by the Chinese government during the FOCAC Johannesburg Summit, we have identified industrialisation, agricultural modernisation, and the development of public health systems as priorities for China-Africa cooperation, focusing on the three bottlenecks of Africa's development – infrastructure, people, and capital.We hope that by resolving the long-standing problems of jobs, food and health, we can contribute to the systemic solution of Africa's development challenges and put the continent on an independent and sustainable development path.

First, we will implement the China-Africa industrialisation plan. China will actively promote industry partnering and production capacity cooperation between China and Africa and encourage more Chinese enterprises to make business investments in Africa. China will build or upgrade a number of industrial parks in cooperation with Africa, send senior government experts and advisers to Africa and set up regional vocational education centres and schools for capacity building. China will also train 200,000 technical personnel and provide 40,000 training opportunities for African personnel in China.

Second, we will implement the China-Africa agricultural modernisation plan. China will share its experience in agricultural development with Africa and transfer its readily applicable technologies. We encourage Chinese enterprises to engage in large-scale farming, animal husbandry, and grain storage and processing in Africa to create more local jobs and increase farmers' income. China will carry out agricultural development projects in 100 African villages to raise rural living standards, send 30 teams of agricultural experts to Africa, and establish a "10+10" cooperation mechanism between Chinese and African agricultural research institutes. China will also provide RMB 1 billion of emergency food aid to the countries affected by El Nino.

Third, we will implement the China-Africa infrastructure plan. China will step up mutually beneficial cooperation with Africa in infrastructure planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance. We support Chinese enterprises' active participation in Africa's infrastructural development, particularly in sectors such as railways, roads, regional aviation, ports, electricity and telecommunications, to enhance Africa's capacity for sustainable development. We will also support African countries in establishing five transportation universities.

Fourth, we will implement the China-Africa financial plan. China will expand its RMB settlement and currency swap operations with African countries, encourage Chinese financial institutions to set up more branches in Africa, and increase its investment and financing cooperation with Africa in multiple ways to provide financial support and services for Africa's industrialisation and modernization drive.

Fifth, we will implement the China-Africa green development plan. China will support Africa in bolstering its capacity for green, low-carbon and sustainable development and support Africa in launching 100 projects to develop clean energy, protect wildlife, promote environment-friendly agriculture and build smart cities.

Sixth, we will implement China-Africa trade and investment facilitation plans. China will carry out 50 aid-for-trade programmes to improve Africa's capacity, both "software" and "hardware", for conducting trade and investment. China will support African countries in enhancing law enforcement capacity in areas such as customs, quality inspection and taxation. We will also engage in cooperation with Africa in standardisation, certification and accreditation and e-commerce. China is ready to negotiate with countries and regional organisations in Africa comprehensive free trade agreements covering trade in goods and services and investment cooperation and will increase its imports of African products.

Seventh, we will implement the China-Africa poverty reduction plan. China will increase its aid to Africa and carry out in Africa 200 "Happy Life" projects as well as poverty reduction programmes focusing on women and children. We will cancel outstanding debts in the form of bilateral governmental zero-interest loans borrowed by the relevant least developed African countries that matured at the end of 2015.

Eighth, we will implement the China-Africa public health plan. China will help Africa strengthen its public health prevention and control system as well as its capacity building by participating in the building of the African Centre for Disease Control. We will support pace-setting cooperation between 20 Chinese hospitals and 20 African hospitals, and upgrade hospital departments. We will continue to send medical teams to Africa and provide medical assistance such as the "Brightness Action" programme for cataract patients and maternal and child care. We will provide more anti-malaria compound artemisinin to Africa, and encourage and support local drug production by Chinese enterprises in Africa to increase Africans' access to medicine.

Ninth, we will implement the China-Africa cultural and people-to-people plan. China will build five cultural centres in Africa and provide satellite TV reception to 10,000 African villages. We will provide to Africa 2,000 educational opportunities with diplomas or degrees and 30,000 government scholarships. Every year, we will sponsor visits by 200 African scholars and study trips by 500 young Africans to China, and train 1,000 media professionals from Africa. We support the opening of more direct flights between China and Africa to boost our tourism cooperation.

Tenth, we will implement China-Africa peace and security plan. China will provide US$60 million of grant to support the building and operation of the African Standby Force and the African Capacity for the Immediate Response to Crisis. China will continue to participate in UN peacekeeping missions in Africa and support African countries' capacity building in areas such as defence, counter-terrorism, riot prevention, customs and immigration control.

These China-Africa cooperation plans announced during the Summit are unprecedented in terms of a wide range of areas, large amount of input and substantial proposals, which have attracted the attention of Africa and the whole world. Some people doubt that, in the context of the sluggish world economic recovery and slowdown in China's economy, these plans can be fully implemented. My answer to this question is YES.

The history of China-Africa cooperation proves that China always honors its promises with good faith. President Xi Jinping pointed out in the Johannesburg Summit that no matter how the international political landscape may evolve, China and Africa will remain brothers, treat each other as equals and trust and support each other. No matter how the international economic landscape may evolve, our fundamental goal of achieving win-win cooperation and common development will not change. No matter how the time and social development may change, the spirit of China-Africa cooperation based on mutual understanding to achieve common progress will not change. No matter what threats or challenges may emerge, the firm resolve of China and Africa to meet challenges in solidarity will not change. In 1970s, the Chinese people assisted the construction of Africa's strategic projects like Tazara Railway against great odds. Even faced with the 2008 financial crisis that swept the globe, China never said No to Africa. With the concerted efforts of both sides, the commitments made during the FOCAC Beijing Summit and the ministerial conferences have been honoured as scheduled and some even over-delivered. Regardless of changes in the world political and economic landscape, China will always keep its promises to Africa, and the sound development momentum of China-Africa cooperation will remain as strong as ever.

At present, China's economy has entered a "new normal" of economic restructuring, transformation and upgrading. In 2015, China's GDP increased by 6.9%, which contributed more than 25% to world economic growth. With the sound progress in comprehensively deepening reform and economic restructuring, China will, by pursuing innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared' development, create another miracle in economic transformation featuring steady growth and diversified driving force, which will provide a stronger impetus and broader space for China-Africa cooperation. At the same time, African countries are actively advancing industrialization and agricultural modernisation. China and Africa meet each other's demands and enjoy respective competitive edges, thus presenting a historic opportunity to align our strategies and comprehensively explore cooperation in various fields. As the core of the Summit, the ten major plans put the key cooperation areas that concern us and that we need the most as the priorities. These carry the expectations of both sides. As long as we work together, all these plans will be carried out in a most effective way.

To ensure the successful implementation of these ten cooperation plans, China decided to provide a total of US$60 billion of funding support. It includes US$5 billion of grant and zero-interest loans to help African countries in the fields such as poverty reduction, health, agriculture and ecological protection and help improve African people's livelihood and welfare; US$35 billion of loans of a concessional nature on more favourable terms and an export credit line which focuses on supporting African countries to construct some large projects, and helping African countries to improve infrastructure and create more social and economic benefits; the China-Africa Fund for Production Capacity Cooperation with an initial contribution of US$10 billion (already launched on January 7th, 2016); an increase of US$5 billion to the China-Africa Development Fund and the Special Loan for the Development of African SMEs respectively to support China-Africa cooperation in capacity, investment, trade and other fields. The shared aspiration for cooperation and adequate financial support have provided reliable guarantees for the implementation of the ten cooperation plans and will enable China and Africa to move forward more steadily, faster and further on the track of win-win cooperation and common development.

During his state visit to South Africa last December, President Xi reaffirmed with President Zuma the commitments to strengthening bilateral cooperation in such key areas as blue economy, production capacity, economic zones, energy, infrastructure development, human resources and finance. The two Presidents witnessed the signing of 23 cooperation agreements, which has lent fresh and strong impetus to the development of China-South Africa comprehensive strategic partnership.

China and South Africa regard each other as a strategic pivot and priority in our respective areas of diplomacy. Our ties have already gone beyond bilateral scope with growing overarching and strategic influence. As an influential African country, South Africa firmly supports China-Africa friendship, leads China-Africa cooperation and safeguards China-Africa interests. China-South Africa cooperation will play a greater role in promoting China-Africa relations. By deepening bilateral cooperation in priority areas including production capacity, blue economy and special economic zones, China and South Africa will boost the practical cooperation between China and Africa. As the co-chairs of FOCAC, China and South Africa will further enhance coordination on the forum affairs and actively push forward the implementation of the plans announced during the Johannesburg Summit. As the important members of BRICS, G20 and the United Nations, China and South Africa will maintain closer collaboration on international and regional issues so as to uphold the interests of China, Africa and the rest of the entire developing world.

2016 is the first year to implement the outcomes of the FOCAC Johannesburg Summit. In the spirit of "wide consultation, joint development and shared benefits", China will join hands with all African countries including South Africa to pursue win-win cooperation and common development and open a new era of China-Africa relations.