On January 20, 2024, Ambassador Chen Mingjian’s article titled “Promote the Building of Closer China-Africa and China-Tanzania Communities with a Shared Future” was published by two major Tanzanian English-language newspapers, Daily News and The Guardian. Here is the full text:

In 2013, President Xi Jinping chose Tanzania as the first stop of his first visit to Africa, and solemnly declared that “China and Africa have always been a community with a shared future” in his speech at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre. At the end of 2023, the Central Conference on Work Related to Foreign Affairs was held in Beijing, and President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech, systematically illustrating the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind. This concept conforms to the universal aspirations of people all over the world, and becomes the lofty goal pursued by major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics in the new era.

What is a community with a shared future for mankind? It means the future and destiny of every nation and country are closely linked, and they stand together regardless of situation, sharing weal and woe for harmonious coexistence and win-win cooperation. How to build a community with a shared future for mankind? It’s goal is to build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security and common prosperity. The path is through global governance of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, underpinned by common values of mankind. It’s supported by creating a new type of international relations, and guided by implementing the global development initiative, the global security initiative and the global civilization initiative. The platform is promoting high-quality “Belt and Road” cooperation.

A decade ago, President Xi Jinping proposed the building of a community with a shared future for mankind and the “Belt and Road Initiative”. Building a community with a shared future for mankind has developed from an idea to a scientific system, from China’s initiative to an international consensus, and from a good vision to abundant practice. It has been written into the resolutions of the UN General Assembly for seven consecutive years and has been continuously extended to various regions and fields, setting a glorious banner for human development and progress.

History always advances in twists and turns, and the historical process of building of a community with a shared future for mankind cannot be smooth sailing. Given the series of major issues and challenges facing the world today, China, as a responsible major country, calls for an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization in order to gather broader international consensus and provide more effective solutions.

Building a community with a shared future for mankind requires advocating an equal and orderly multipolar world. An equal and orderly multipolar world is one in which all countries, regardless of size, are treated as equals, hegemonism and power politics are rejected, and democracy is truly promoted in international relations.To keep the progress toward greater multipolarity generally stable and constructive, the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter must be observed by all, the universally recognized, basic norms governing international relations must be upheld by all, and true multilateralism must be practiced. China calls for jointly abiding by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, jointly adhering to the universally recognized basic norms of international relations, and practicing real multilateralism, to ensure the overall stability and constructiveness of the multipolarization process.

Building a community with a shared future for mankind requires advocating a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization.. China advocates expansion and distribution of the “cake” of economic globalization, meets the common needs of all countries, especially the developing countries, and properly addresses the development imbalances between and within countries resulting from the global allocation of resources, so as to make development adequate and balanced and promote the formation of globalization that is conducive to the accelerated development of all countries in the world, especially developing countries. China advocates that all countries follow the development path that suits their national conditions, and at the same time work together to create the common development of all mankind.

Building China-Africa and China-Tanzania communities with a shared future is an important part of building a community with a shared future for mankind. Over the past 10 years, under the guidance of the concept of building a China-Africa community with a shared future, China-Africa and China-Tanzania relations have achieved leap-forward development. In 2022, the trade volume between China and Africa reached USD 282 billion, and China became Africa’s largest trading partner for 14 consecutive years. 52 African countries and the African Union Commission signed the “Belt and Road” cooperation documents with China, becoming the most active region in building the “Belt and Road”. China-Africa cooperation has played an important role in promoting Africa’s economic and social development and breaking the bottleneck of Africa’s sustainable development, and has become a model of South-South cooperation.

China has always supported African countries independently exploring development paths suitable to their national conditions, jointly expand the cake of global development, and promote globalization to benefit Africa’s development in a more balanced way. China has always supported African countries to play a greater role in the international arena, which is particularly reflected in China’s support for making special arrangements to give priority to solving Africa’s demands on the reform of the Security Council, taking the lead in supporting the African Union to join the G20 and Ethiopia to become a new member of the BRICS mechanism. In August 2023, President Xi Jinping put forward the “Initiative on Supporting Africa’s Industrialization”, the “Plan for China Supporting Africa’s Agricultural Modernization” and the “Plan for China-Africa Cooperation on Talent Development” at the China-Africa Leaders’ Dialogue to help Africa achieve development and revitalization with practical actions.

Tanzania is an important country in Africa and plays an important role in the overall situation of China’s relations with Africa. Under the guidance of the diplomacy of the two heads of state, bilateral cooperation has achieved fruitful results and has always been at the forefront of developing countries. In 2023, China remained Tanzania’s largest trading partner and largest investor. From January to November 2023, the bilateral trade volume reached USD 7.96 billion, and China is expected to become Tanzania’s largest trading partner for eight consecutive years. China’s investment in Tanzania has achieved remarkable results, with the total investment of the project of Wangkang Sapphire Float Glass (Tanzania) Factory alone reaching USD 311 million. Important projects such as the 5th Section of the Tanzania Central Line SGR and the Julius Nyerere Hydro-power Station undertaken by Chinese companies have been steadily advanced. Pragmatic cooperation between China and Tanzania has made important contributions to Tanzania in realizing trade diversification, promoting economic transformation and enhancing people’s livelihood and well-being. China firmly supports Tanzania’s independent exploration of the development path that suits its national conditions and resolutely opposes external forces interfering in Tanzania’s internal affairs. Tanzania has rendered China firm support on Taiwan question, and issues related to Xinjiang, and human rights, illustrating the unbreakable brotherhood between China and Tanzania.

The year 2024 is an important year in the history of China-Tanzania relations, and the two countries celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. China is willing to work with African countries including Tanzania to implement the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, jointly implement the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, advocate equal and orderly world multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, and promote the continuous development of China-Tanzania comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership for the benefits of the Chinese, Tanzanian, and African peoples as a whole.