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00:00Let's head now to Beijing, where the 9th China-Africa Forum FOCAC is on the way.
00:05Almost every African country has sent a high-level delegation to the event
00:09that focuses on trade and development goals across the continent.
00:13And this Thursday, Chinese leader Xi Jinping
00:16pledged over $50 billion in credit, aid and investment.
00:21And in a speech to delegates from more than 50 African nations,
00:25he said China and Africa should write a new chapter in peace, prosperity and progress.
00:33On the path to modernisation, no one and no country should be left behind.
00:39Let us rally the more than 2.8 billion Chinese and African people
00:43into a powerful force on our shared path towards modernisation.
00:48Promote modernisation of the Global South with China-Africa modernisation
00:52and write a new, magnificent chapter of development in human history.
01:05The China-Africa relationship is now at its best in history.
01:09That's what President Xi Jinping said during his keynote speech at this year's FOCAC.
01:13He described China's ties to the continent as mutually beneficial,
01:17whilst adding that, I quote,
01:19the Western approach has inflicted immense suffering.
01:23The Chinese leader also announced over $50 billion in credit, aid and investment,
01:28including $1 billion in military assistance.
01:31It's interesting to note that FOCAC was first launched in 2000,
01:35and this is the ninth edition compared to the U.S., for example,
01:39that has held just two U.S.-Africa Leaders' Summits,
01:42once in 2014 and again in 2022.
01:46After President Xi's opening address,
01:48African leaders representing different parts of the continent also took to the stage.
01:53South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa thanked the hosts at least five times,
01:57mostly for their approach towards the continent,
02:01saluting China's interest and their collaborative approach.
02:05President Ramaphosa ended his short speech
02:08with a preview of the upcoming final declaration of this year's forum,
02:12saying that the signatories support a one-China policy
02:16and view that the People's Republic of China is the, I quote again,
02:21true and only representative of the people of China.
02:25Nothing new per se, but certainly a strong message of support
02:29to the room full of high-ranking Chinese officials
02:31and, of course, African delegates sitting in Beijing's Great Hall of the People.