-- Remarks Made by Ambassador Ma Xinmin at the Opening Ceremony of the International Symposium in Commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and Sudan
(at 10:00 on October 24, 2019 in Rotana Hotel)
Ladies and gentlemen,
Friends,
Good morning! It is a great pleasure to have all of you here at the International Symposium on History, Current Situation and Future of China-Sudan Relations. First of all, on behalf of the Chinese Embassy in Sudan, I would like to extend my warm welcome to all friends from China and Sudan present here, and express my heartfelt thanks to the friendly people from all quarters in China and Sudan for their long-term efforts and contributions to the progress in China-Sudan relations.
On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of China-Sudan diplomatic ties and also the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, it is of far-reaching significance to hold a symposium in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of China-Sudan diplomatic ties at this moment to review the past and plan for the future.
As two ancient civilizations enjoying long history, China and Sudan have witnessed friendly ties between our two peoples for millennia and bilateral diplomatic ties for sixty years. No matter how the international situation evolves, China-Sudan relations grow even stronger, remaining committed to the principles of equal treatment and sincere friendship, adhering to equity, justice and mutual support and pursuing mutual benefits and win-win cooperation. All these contribute to the mainstream of China-Sudan relations over the past six decades. That is mutual trust, mutual benefit, mutual help and mutual learning.
China-Sudan friendship is embedded in our deep strategic trust. The past six decades have seen close high-level interactions between China and Sudan, as well as frequent exchanges at the political party, government, parliament, military and other levels. On February 4, 1959, Sudan established diplomatic relations with China, becoming the fourth among Arab and African countries with diplomatic ties with China, following Egypt, Morocco and Algeria. The visit paid by Premier Zhou Enlai and Vice Premier Chen Yi to Sudan in 1964 represented the beginning of the development of our bilateral relations and laid a solid foundation for subsequent friendly exchanges between the two countries. In 2015, China and Sudan announced their strategic partnership, ushering in a new era for our bilateral relations. In response to major changes unseen in the past 30 years that occurred in Sudan in April this year, China has been offering strong support to Sudan's transitional authority. The Chinese government has sent its special representative for African affairs to visit Sudan twice, and spoken in defense of Sudan at the UN Security Council and on many other international occasions. Not long ago, State Councilor Wang Yi met with Prime Minister Hamdok on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, pointing the way for future development of our bilateral relations.
With firm political trust in each other, both sides have always given each other understanding and firm support on issues concerning our respective core interests and major concerns, coordinated and cooperated with each other's efforts in international and regional affairs, and supported each other in maintaining national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and exploring a development path suited to our respective national conditions. Offered with no strings attached, the mutual support between China and Sudan is sincere help between friends.
Given the current situation, China supports Sudan's new authority in making endeavors to realize national peace, maintain social stability and promote economic recovery, calls on the UN Security Council to lift economic and financial sanctions against Sudan, and endorses the removal of Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. Committed to taking an active part in peacekeeping operations in Sudan organized by the United Nations and the African Union, China has dispatched to Sudan a helicopter squad, first of this kind deployed overseas in Chinese history, and sent over 4,500 peacekeepers to the Darfur region so far, making endless efforts on peacekeeping and peace building in Sudan.
China-Sudan relationship is reflected in our fruitful cooperation for win-win results. As a pioneer and model of China-Africa cooperation, the practical cooperation between China and Sudan sets a shining example for "South-South cooperation". Our bilateral cooperation in economy, trade, infrastructure construction, hydropower, communication, roads and bridges, pharmaceutical and other areas has yielded fruitful results. At present, more than 120 Chinese enterprises have made investment aggregating over USD 13 billion in economy, livelihood and other areas in Sudan, contributing to China's role as Sudan's largest trading partner and investor and the country contracting the most projects in Sudan, for several consecutive years.
Dating back to the middle 1990s and hailed as a "milestone in China-Sudan cooperation", our oil cooperation has successfully created a complete "black" oil industry chain. And the two sides are now working positively together on building a "white" cotton industry chain in Sudan. The 200,000-mu (approximately 13,333.33-hectare) cotton planted through cooperation between Chinese enterprises and local farmers is expected to benefit 150,000 Sudanese farmers. Moreover, China and Sudan are making positive efforts to promote the building of a "green" animal husbandry industry chain. Thanks to the antimalarial drug produced by the Shanghai-Sudan Pharmaceutical Limited Company, millions of patients in Sudan have been cured, and the life and health of Sudanese people are protected. The Merowe Dam, dubbed as "the Sudanese equivalent of the Three Gorges Dam", and the magnificent Friendship Hall, built by Chinese enterprises, have become a permanent symbol of our longstanding friendship.
China-Sudan relationship is carried forward through our intensive people-to-people exchanges for mutual help and mutual learning. People-to-people friendly exchanges are the force powering the development of our bilateral relations. Mutual help and mutual learning between the two peoples remain an unchanged focus of China-Sudan friendship. Assisting with Sudan's development with sincerity and delivering tangible benefits to Sudanese people is the abiding mission of China. Since 1970, China has offered an aggregate of RMB6 billion financial aid to the Sudanese government, which constructed over 110 livelihood and infrastructure projects, delivering benefits to the general public of Sudan. Over the past 48 years, China has dispatched to Sudan approximately 1,000 medical works in 34 groups who have treated over 8.22 million patients and performed 200,000 operations, enabling 1,533 Sudanese patients to recover their eyesight. In return for China's warm heart, Sudanese people have showed their true friendship and trust that is more precious than gold for China. After the strong earthquake hitting Wenchuan in Southwest China's Sichuan Province in 2008, the Sudanese government and people from all quarters in Sudan immediately gave their helping hand to China.
Culture and education are the bond of friendship for the two peoples. The Sudan Acrobatics Troupe set up under the care of Premier Zhou Enlai has been hailed by Sudanese people as the "Flower of Friendship between Sudan and China". In recent years, training and educational exchanges between China and Sudan continue to heat up, as learning Chinese and furthering studies in China have been an increasingly popular option for many Sudanese people and a dream of local youths. So far, more than 8,100 people in Sudan have received short-term technical training in various areas organized by the Chinese government, and a total of 29,941 students have learned Chinese in the Confucius Institute of the University of Khartoum over the past 10 years after its founding. A Sudanese student majoring in Chinese from the Khartoum University who names himself in Chinese as Zhao Zhixing became the champion of the 16th "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students, the first competitor from African countries that wins the title. Now, Sudanese students studying in China amount to over 3,000 while Chinese students studying in Sudan total 500. The wave of "China fever" among a large number of Sudanese young people echoes the ancient philosophy of "seeking knowledge even if you have to go as far as China" proposed by the Prophet Muhammad. All these show that China-Sudan friendship has taken root among the two peoples.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Friends,
Looking back to the past 60-year history of China-Sudan relations, we have gained mutual trust, profound friendship, and common development and progress. As an ancient Chinese philosopher wrote, "pines and cypresses have to strike a firm root before they can flourish; rivers and streams have to possess a fully dredged source before they can flow unceasingly far". Our longstanding friendly relations boil down to our common political stance and increasingly intertwined common interests, and is also credited to the genuine recognition and profound friendship between the two peoples. Standing on a new historical starting point, China and Sudan face unprecedented historic opportunities for the development of bilateral relations. We need to avoid the distractions of unsubstantial ideas and superficial fame, and more importantly, to make relentless efforts and work hard.
China hopes to constantly enrich the implications of China-Sudan relations to further upgrade China-Sudan strategic partnership. We need to further strengthen interactions among the political parties, governments at all levels, parliament, judicial bodies and local entities; deepen exchange of experience in state governance and views on international and regional issues to expand our strategic consensus; enhance mutual support on issues concerning our respective core interests and major concerns, take pragmatic actions and measures to enhance strategic trust; and strengthen connectivity in development strategies and plans under the framework of the "Belt and Road Initiative" with each other, to fully harness our comparative strengths.
China hopes to actively explore cooperation in new areas to enable China-Sudan practical cooperation to achieve leapfrog development. We need to give full play to the role of the existing coordination and exchange mechanism between China and Sudan in coordinating and leading policies; under the framework of the "Belt and Road Initiative", the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation ("FOCAC") and China-Arab States Cooperation Forum ("CASCF"), promote bilateral practical cooperation by consolidating cooperation in traditional areas and meanwhile actively seeking cooperation in new areas to give a new impetus to our cooperation. In addition, we will make efforts to promote economic development of areas adjacent to the Red Sea and the Nile Rivers, and expand our cooperation in high-tech agriculture and animal husbandry, mining, production capacity, industry, infrastructure like aviation and ports, and other areas, to achieve common development and prosperity.
China hopes to accurately grasp the pulse and needs of the two peoples to carry forward China-Sudan friendship from generation to generation. We will strive to expand the coverage of people-to-people exchanges and diversify the contents and forms of such exchanges, to promote higher quality and efficiency of people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. We will also strengthen interactions between our professionals, the academia and think tanks, particularly the communication and interactions between lawyers, doctors, accountants, architects, and other professional groups, and deepen cooperation and exchange in education, youth, women and other areas. Moreover, we will mobilize the participation of all involved in bilateral cooperation and exchange, so as to win more public support for China-Sudan relations and carry forward China-Sudan friendship from generation to generation.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Friends,
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. China in the new era now embarks on a great journey toward the realization of the Two Centenary Goals. It is also a transitional year for Sudan as it has undergone major changes unseen in the past 30 years. The Sudan's new government will open up new prospects for the nation under the new circumstances. Given the huge potential of and the bright outlook for China-Sudan relations, China is ready to work together with our Sudanese friends to enhance mutual trust through dialogues, solidify our friendship via exchanges and seek win-win results through cooperation, by seizing the historic opportunities for the two countries and for the development of our bilateral relations, looking forward to jointly writing a new chapter of China-Sudan friendship and making greater contributions to building a new type of international relations between developing countries and a community of a shared future between China and Africa.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Friends,
Next, we will have in-depth discussions of certain topics to review the 60-year history of China-Sudan relations, look ahead to its future and better understand the diplomatic, political and economic policies of Sudan. As all of you present here have witnessed and experienced personally the China-Sudan friendship and also serve as the promotor and builder of China-Sudan relations, I am sure you will have deep and thorough exchanges and provide more deep insights for the development of China-Sudan relations over the next six decades.
Finally, I wish this symposium a complete success! Thank you very much!