Do justice to Chinese investments in Africa

The United Kingdom-based Financial Times recently published an editorial titled "China's New Scramble for Africa," in which the author stressed that criticism of China's burgeoning relationship with Africa as being "a new form of colonialism" is largely misplaced.

According to the article, Western-led development strategies, however well-meaning, did not break the vicious cycle of poverty and underdevelopment in Africa, while Chinese investments, made for sound business reasons and boosting employment and economic growth, offer new hope and an alternative way forward.

Although there is still the shadow of traditional Western media's prejudices against Sino-African relations in a few paragraphs, it is good for the author to contrast Sino-African relations with the previous relationship between Western countries and Africa. Comparative study is undoubtedly the correct way of developing a comprehensive and objective understanding of Sino-African relations.

In recent years, along with expanding economic and trade cooperation between China and African countries, more and more Western commentators and media groups have stepped up to accuse China of "plundering African resources," "conducting neocolonialism," "pushing Africa into a debt crisis," and other malicious slander.

Behind the accusations is the psychology of seeing themselves as the "savior" of Africa, while conversely viewing China's economic and trade cooperation with Africa as a challenge to the position of Western countries in the region. Furthermore, the Western world ignores basic facts, and many Africans find the unfounded accusations unthinkable and offensive.

China has strictly adhered to a set of basic principles when developing its relationship with African countries. Only after comparing the principles that China sticks to and the benefits Africans have received from China with what Western countries have done in Africa can some people realize China's significant role in promoting the development of Africa.

The Chinese government has always developed friendly and cooperative ties with African countries under the principles of equality, mutual benefit, diversity, pragmatism and common development. Over the past 60 years, to help African countries enhance their independent development capacities, China has provided 53 African countries with a variety of assistance and trained 30,000 professionals in various areas under the framework of South-South Cooperation.

Despite the impact of the international financial crisis and many domestic difficulties, China has fulfilled its promise to implement the commitments it made during the Beijing Summit of the Forum on Sino-African Co-operation by doubling its assistance to Africa and absolving 168 debts of 33 countries.

During the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on Sino-African Cooperation held in 2009, Chinese leaders announced eight new measures relating to pragmatic cooperation between China and Africa in order to promote the Sino-African cooperation into a new stage.

The economic and trade cooperation between China and Africa are mutually beneficial and transparent. Unlike the West, China has not imposed any political conditions on its support and assistance to Africa. South African President Jacob Zuma said during a recent visit to China, "China has engaged in trade, cooperation and assistance in Africa and has never conducted 'colonial' activities on the African continent. It is groundless to view some investments and economic activities made by China as neo-colonialism."

Katherine Tweedie, head of Africa at the World Economic Forum on Africa, believes that China has a simple economic intention for its development in Africa without any intervention in the internal affairs of African countries and has paid attention to technical transfers, applying different development approaches in Africa from those of Western countries.

Some in the West have attempted to criticize China for their work in Africa and attached the neo-colonialism label to the economic and trade cooperation between China and Africa. However, they have forgotten the most basic fact that people will not forget what Western colonial powers brought to the African people in the past. The Financial Times commented that they are simply "in a weak position to lecture China on Africa."

By Zhang Qian, People's Daily Online