Justin Yifu Lin: China a good example for Africa’s development

2019-06-29 09:58
source: Xinhua News
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Justin Yifu Lin, former Senior Vice President of the World Bank and currently Dean of the Institute of New Structural Economics of Peking University, noted on 26th that Africa has rich natural resources and a sizeable workforce and market; it can draw on China’s experience, wisdom, and solutions to eliminate poverty and realize development.

On the eve of the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo to be opened on the 27th, Lin gived an exclusive interview to Xinhua News Agency. Pointing to the similar conditions which preceded development in China and Africa, he says China’s pathway towards modernization offers a new option for those who are keen to achieve fast development and maintain independence.

“When a person can stand on his own feet and achieve success, he should help others to do the same. This is an age-old Chinese philosophy. We would like to see other developing countries, those who have a similar history with China, including the African countries, to realize their own dream and development,” Lin said.According to him, the Expo aims to “teach people how to fish” by identifying the good practices and models in China-Africa economic cooperation and trade. 101 examples and solutions will be presented in such priority areas as agriculture, industrial manufacturing, business and trade, power and energy, industrial parks, construction engineering, financing cooperation, and services; these solutions are adapted to Africa’s realities to be sustainable, actionable and replicable on a large scale.

On the morning of the 26th, a launch ceremony is held in Changsha for the book A Collection of Cases in China-Africa Economic Cooperation and Trade published by Hunan People’s Publishing House in Chinese, English, and French.

Lin said the book is a guide to the good results and practices in China-Africa cooperation over the years and a demonstration of China’s contribution to other developing countries. It is an operational handbook; the ideas in it are fire sparks with the potential to spread across Africa and help Africa find a way to adapt China’s experience to their own development needs.

Lin cited the example of Huajian, a Chinese private company employing 8,000 in Ethiopia, saying it has strengthened the confidence of Ethiopia to establish industrial parks and provide favorable policies to grow export-oriented industries with potential competitive advantages. The country now is the most favored destination for foreign investment on the whole continent. It is a good example of Africa’s capacity to draw on its own competitive strengths and get involved in globalization in a rewarding way when it can mobilize various stakeholders.

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