By Bian Jianqiang

The eagerly awaited Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is expected to raise the curtain in this golden autumn, during which Chinese and African leaders will gather in Beijing to draw a new blueprint for China-Africa friendly cooperation in the new era under the theme of “China and Africa: Toward an Even Stronger Community with a Shared Future through Win-Win Cooperation”.

Over the past four years after assuming office as Chinese Ambassador to Guinea, I have been impressed by the rich connotation and thriving vitality of a community of common destiny between China and Guinea, as well as the broad prospects of bilateral win-win cooperation.

China-Guinea ties have grown ever stronger as time goes by. China, one of the first countries that recognized Guinea’s independence, and Guinea, the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to establish diplomatic relations with China, have maintained sound and stable ties since they established diplomatic ties 59 years ago.

Sticking to the “one-China” principle, Guinea rendered mutual support with China on issues related to each other’s core interests, as well as major international affairs.

The two countries have developed their relationship in an all-round manner under the guidance of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Guinean President Alpha Conde, and upgraded bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in 2016.

A friend in need is a friend indeed. China offered precious support to help Guinea out of difficulty during the early days after the latter’s independence.

In the emergent moment of 2014 and 2015 when the African country was hit by outbreak of Ebola virus disease, China lent a helpful hand at the first time by providing it with funds, supplies, food and medical assistance, and sending medical experts.

In the hard time, Chinese diplomats, medical teams, enterprises, and people living in Guinea stood side by side to fight the virus together with local community, which reveals the brotherly friendship of the two peoples who stick together in thick and thin and help one another in time of need.

China never stops its efforts to advance the economic and social development of Guinea. Thanks to China’s pledge to provide satellite TV reception to 10,000 African villages under the framework of the FOCAC, a total of 333 villages in Guinea have been accessed to digital television in this year, and tens of thousands of local residents, as a result, have been offered with a new window to learn the world.

China and Guinea highly complement each other in economic growth. New fruits from China-Guinea pragmatic cooperation have been emerging one after another in recent years, with China offering the African country with commercial loans, concessionary loans and investment.

The Kaleta hydropower plant, financed by China, has greatly eased the electricity shortage of the country’s capital city Conakry and its neighboring areas after the project was put into use in 2015.

The landmark projects, including the five-star Hotel Kaloum and Diamond Plaza in Conakry built by China’s private firms, add luster to the image of the city and the country.

All walks of life in Guinea laud China as their country’s most reliable friend and most prior cooperation partner.

Guinea places great importance on the FOCAC, an important platform for China-Africa collaboration.

Guinean President highly agrees with China’s African policy of sincerity, real results, affinity and good faith and the correct viewpoint of righteousness and benefit put forward by Xi, and admires China’s remarkable achievements in poverty reduction.

Conde, in a recent interview, described China as a good example for African partners, saying that African countries that have only tens of millions of population should conquer poverty given that China, with so much population distributed in such a vast land, is able to do so.

He expects to join in the co-construction of the Belt and Road, learn from China’s experience in alleviating poverty, and boost cooperation with China in agriculture, mining and infrastructure by taking the upcoming Beijing summit as an opportunity, so as to realize mutual benefits, win-win results and common development.

(By Bian Jianqiang, Chinese Ambassador to Guinea)