Ambassador Wu Haitao appealed to the international community on Monday to help African countries enhance their economic and social development.

Ambassador Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations

Wu, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, spoke at the high-level inaugural event of Africa Week 2017 at the United Nations in New York.

The weeklong event is themed: "Supporting an Integrated, Prosperous, People-centered, Peaceful Africa: Towards the Implementation of Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development".

Wu called for nations to make efforts to strengthen Africa’s independent development capacity “to promote the development of Africa's agricultural modernization, industrialization, infrastructure construction of energy, transport” under Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda.

Wu said the international community should improve the external development environment of Africa.

"The international community should accelerate the development of Africa by promoting the peaceful development of Africa and achieving the prosperity and stability of the world," Wu said.

He said that through the principle of shared growth through discussion and collaboration, “developing countries such as Africa profoundly participate in the global economy and sharing of development dividends".

Developed countries should honor their commitments of providing assistance to Africa in finance, technology and capacity building; developing countries should strengthen South-South cooperation, Wu said.

The international community should respect the sovereignty of African countries and help Africa achieve a comprehensive peace. Nations should provide adequate, stable and sustainable funds to help African countries improve capacity for independent peaceful operations and promote the construction of collective security mechanisms in Africa.

Wu said China and Africa are good friends and partners. China is supporting the Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda by promoting cooperation between China and Africa in areas such as industrialization, agriculture modernization, infrastructure, environmental protection, and peace and security.

At the Johannesburg Summit and the sixth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Johannesburg in 2015, President Xi Jinping and African leaders jointly drafted a blueprint for the development of China-Africa friendly cooperation. The implementation of the summit results is running smoothly, Wu said.

Since Africa is an important area and partner in the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, Wu said China would pursue a strategic link with Africa to achieve mutual compensation of advantages.

“China is willing to make joint efforts with Africa to promote bilateral cooperation and make new achievements, to make greater contributions to the cause of global peace and development,” he said.

Launched in 2010, the annual weeklong event celebrates Africa’s continuous advancements and achievements in regard to social, economic, political and environmental development.

The week also brings to the fore awareness on the new and emerging challenges confronting the continent, with an aim to mobilize international support at the global level for Africa’s development priorities and its inclusive transformative agenda.

xiaohong@chinadailyusa.com