Africa-Press – Angola. The ambassador of the Republic of China to Angola, Zhang Bin, expressed, this Friday, the two countries’ willingness to take cooperation to new levels due to the positive results it produced.
Zhang Bin, who was speaking at a press conference to review the visit of the Angolan President, João Lourenço, to the People’s Republic of China, from the 14th to the 17th of this year, highlighted that the cooperation between the two countries over these years has brought real results.
In his intervention, he welcomed the gains from President João Lourenço’s visit, which allowed the elevation of cooperation to a Global Strategic Partnership and, therefore, making it more comprehensive.
He stressed that in this new stage, alongside economic and commercial cooperation, greater openness will be given to intercultural and interpersonal cooperation.
Despite not addressing numbers, he added that Angola’s debt to China is transparent and highlighted the need for any country that wants to develop to have to take on debt to make investments.
However, he said that the Chinese side has often taken into account the difficulties of its partners and, jointly, sought ways to overcome constraints.
On a mission to Angola since February this year, Ambassador Zhang Bin stressed the principle of non-interference and the free choice of cooperation partners as the basis of his country’s relations with other states.
Hence considering that Angola is free to equally deepen its cooperation with the United States of America (USA) or another country, and its country does not feel uncomfortable.
He argued that the choice of a cooperation partner is the right of each State, in this case Angolan, and no one should interfere, “but we are also happy that other large nations are increasing their investments for the development of the African continent”.
He reinforced that, during the visit, the two statesmen emphasized, for this reason, the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of each State.
Addressing the private role in the field of cooperation, the diplomat said that around two (2) billion dollars in direct investment from China in Angola come from the sector or private companies.
As a result, he argued, close to 70 percent of Chinese direct investment is made by private companies.
For the diplomat, companies in his country must increasingly increase the proportion of local workers, although technical issues are often a determining factor.
He highlighted that technical-professional training will be one of the important steps to be developed in the near future.
He made it known that a large number of related institutions have already expressed their intention to establish themselves in Angola to promote the training of national staff.
This Asian nation attaches great importance to the quality of projects carried out within the framework of cooperation, especially to prevent “external forces” from trying to defame the friendly relations between China and Africa, he said.
“This does not mean that there cannot often be one or another problem, which is their own, however, the most important thing is the resolution of these specific issues”, he argued.
Regarding possible violations of Angolan labor laws, which could eventually be committed by Chinese companies, the diplomat stressed that his country’s authorities support the actions of local governments in order to punish crimes and violations by them.
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