Ms Yan Yuqing, the Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Lagos, Nigeria, says African nations should leverage their resources and market advantages to engage more in international cooperation while maintaining sovereignty and economic independence.
According to Yuqing, the global trade system is undergoing restructuring, and countries need to strengthen cooperation and dialogue to jointly address challenges and promote inclusive growth.
Yuqing made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
She said that recently, intensified competition between China and the U.S. had had a profound impact on global trade and international organisations such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The envoy said that her country adhered to multilateralism and supported the reform of the WTO to address challenges of unilateralism and protectionism.
“The Sino-American rivalry may lead to further fragmentation of the global economic landscape, prompting more nations to seek new models of economic cooperation, such as expansion of the BRICS mechanism.
NAN reports that BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It is an acronym for a group of emerging market economies that work together to promote cooperation, development and security.
BRICS consists of 10 countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and United Arab Emirates.
BRICS is considered to be a counterpart and alternative to the G7 bloc of the world’s largest economies.
According to the envoy, amid competition among China, U.S. and emerging powers, African countries are actively adopting diversified diplomatic strategies, strengthening regional cooperation and participating in multilateral mechanisms to balance the interests of all parties and ensure their own development space.
On Nigeria’s partnership with BRICS, she said the country was expected to gain more opportunities for investments, technology transfer and market access, thereby promoting its economic development.
On China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Yuqing noted that since its proposal in 2013, it had evolved into a highly-acclaimed international public good and a broadly participatory platform for international cooperation.
“Landmark BRI projects undertaken by Chinese enterprises in Nigeria include the Lagos-Ibadan Railway and the Lekki Deep Sea Port,” she said.
Yuqing said the development of the BRI had also promoted economic globalisation, solving global development challenges, improving global governance system, and carving out a new pathway for humanity to achieve modernisation together.
According to her, the advancement of the Belt and Road cooperation between China and Africa is conducive for economic and social development in Africa and leading the countries of the Global South toward modernisation collectively.
“We appreciate Nigeria for its support and active participation in the three major global initiatives of development, security and civilisation.
“China is willing to synergise in the joint construction of the BRI and the 10 partnership actions of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Beijing Summit with the priority areas of Nigeria’s Renewed Hope policy.”
She said the strength of the Global South, characterised by unity and cooperation of developing countries, was increasingly converging.
This, Yuqing said, was against the backdrop of geopolitics becoming more visible, global governance facing a deficit, major power relations becoming confrontational, and international situation growing turbulent.
“On her part, the Global South is gradually emerging as a positive, stabilising and constructive force in international affairs, breaking the long-standing pattern of western dominance in global governance.”
According to the envoy, the collective rise of the Global South is a distinctive feature of the profound changes in the world.
This, she said, remained an inevitable outcome of the growing importance of developing countries in international affairs and reflected profound shifts in the balance of international power.
“This trend aligns with the tide of the times in development of international relations and meets common aspirations of people across the world.
“I believe that mutually beneficial cooperation should be the basic principle of all countries’ policies in handling international relations, and China will always adhere to the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.
“We are willing to work together with all parties in unity and cooperation like passengers in the same boat seeking win-win outcomes and avoiding losses,” she said.
She said that China would be willing to inject more into the world and promote global governance system toward a more equitable and reasonable direction.
Highlighting the tariff wars between the U.S. and other economies, she said the general consensus of the international community was that there were no winners in trade wars.
She further said China had always adhered to the diplomatic concepts of mutual respect, fairness, justice and win-win cooperation.
Yuqing said that China remained willing to work together with all countries, including the U.S., to promote building of a new type of international relations and make positive contributions to world peace and development.
“At the same time, China opposes any form of hegemony and power politics, and advocates resolving differences through dialogue and cooperation on an equal footing to achieve common prosperity.
“We welcome positive changes from the U.S., building mutual respect with other countries and working together for a better tomorrow for the world,” Yuqing said. (NAN)
