Xinhua News Agency: The year 2024 marks a milestone in China-Africa relations. The Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was successfully held, after which bilateral relations between China and all African countries having diplomatic ties with China were elevated to the level of strategic relations and the overall characterization of China-Africa relations was elevated to an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era. Could you tell us what are the highlights of China-Africa cooperation over the past year and your outlook for China-Africa relations in the year to come?

Mao Ning: In 2024, China-Africa relations have continued to produce fruitful results despite an international landscape featuring transformation and instability. 

We’ve witnessed the grand friendly gathering of the big China-Africa family. Nearly 6,000 guests from both at home and abroad, including leaders of all the 53 African countries having diplomatic ties with China, Chairperson of the African Union Commission and UN Secretary-General, came to Beijing to attend the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). 

We’ve witnessed the remarkable elevation of China-Africa friendly relations, as bilateral relations between China and all African countries having diplomatic ties with China were elevated to the level of strategic relations and the overall characterization of China-Africa relations was elevated to an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era. 

We’ve witnessed the impressive progress in China-Africa friendly cooperation. The FOCAC Beijing Summit affirmed that the two sides should jointly advance modernization characterized by six features and announced 10 partnership actions for China and Africa to advance modernization. A good number of signature programs and “small and beautiful” projects have come to fruition in Africa. 

We’ve witnessed the solidarity of the Global South and the collective rise of the Global South with China and African countries as its key members. The adoption of the Beijing Declaration at the FOCAC Beijing Summit made a voice of justice that opposes hegemonism, bloc confrontation and decoupling and severing of supply chains.

Looking ahead into the year 2025, we stand ready to deliver on the outcomes of the FOCAC Beijing Summit and the important common understandings of the Chinese and African leaders, work together with African countries to form stronger synergy between our policies and development strategies, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields, have closer cultural and people-to-people exchanges and continue to firmly support each other on issues concerning each other’s core interests and of major concerns, continue to add new dimensions to the all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era, jointly uphold the shared interest of the Global South and international justice and fairness and make new contributions to promoting world peace and development. 

AFP: Yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) called on China to share COVID-19 data and provide access to help understand the origins of the virus. They called it a moral and scientific imperative. Does the Foreign Ministry have any response to this call from WHO? 

Mao Ning: Since the outbreak of COVID-19 five years ago, China has shared information on the outbreak and genome sequence of the virus with WHO and the international community at the earliest time possible, and has shared with others our control and clinical experience without reservation, making great contribution to the global effort of fighting against COVID-19.

On the origins-tracing of COVID-19, China follows the spirit of science, openness, and transparency, actively supports and participates in global science-based origins-tracing, and firmly opposes any form of political manipulation. China is the only country that has invited more than once WHO expert groups to come into the country to conduct joint origins study. China is also the only country that has organized multiple events for its experts to share progress on origins-tracing with WHO. On the origins-tracing of COVID-19, China has shared more data and research findings and contributed more to worldwide COVID-19 origins study than any other country. WHO experts said on multiple occasions that the Chinese side granted full access to all sites, personnel and material they requested when conducting study in China, and that the level of openness and transparency in China is what they hadn’t expected. 

The international science community is now providing increasing clues that point possible COVID origins to various parts of the world, and a global perspective is needed to carry out origins-tracing work in multiple countries and regions. China stands ready to work with all parties to continue advancing global science-based origins-tracing study and make active contribution to better guard against infectious diseases in the future.

CCTV: This year, BRICS held the first summit after its expansion, and Peru, Brazil and other countries successively hosted the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, the G20 Summit and other important international multilateral meetings. There has been comment that 2024 is a year of the Global South. How do you see the rising momentum of the Global South and its impact on the world?

Mao Ning: As Foreign Minister Wang Yi pointed out, the collective rise of the Global South in the current chapter of history is a distinctive feature of the great transformation across the world. In the past year, greater BRICS cooperation made a good start, the new model of “SCO plus” came into shape, and the African Union took part in the G20 Summit for the first time. Global South countries have joined hands to take part in multilateral cooperation more actively and extensively, bringing new impetus for the transformation of economic globalization, and adding new dynamism to global governance. 

China will always be an important member of the Global South and always be committed to unity and invigoration of the Global South. President Xi Jinping called for more open and inclusive Global South cooperation, and announced eight measures in support of Global South cooperation. He articulated the vision for countries in the Global South to work together as the staunch force for peace, the core driving force for open development, the construction team of global governance, and the advocates for exchange among civilizations. 

China will continue to practice true multilateralism, firmly safeguard the common interests of developing countries, and bring the Global South together in solidarity for greater strength, so as to leave the mark of the Global South on the progress of humanity.

Reuters: Syria has appointed several foreign fighters to its military, including to senior positions. Among them is the leader of the Turkistan Islamic Party. Would the Foreign Ministry have any comment on this development?

Mao Ning: The Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) was designated by China in accordance with the law and listed by the UN Security Council as a terrorist organization. The international community needs to see clearly its violent terrorist nature and firmly combat the ETIM.

AFP: The US Treasury Department said yesterday that it was subject to a cyberattack by a China state-sponsored actor earlier this month. It said that the hackers had gained access to employee workstations and some documents. Does the Foreign Ministry have any comment on these allegations by the US Treasury Department?

Mao Ning: On this kind of unwarranted and groundless allegations, we’ve made clear our position more than once. China opposes all forms of hacking, and in particular, we oppose spreading China-related disinformation motivated by political agenda.

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For the New Year’s Day holiday, there will be no regular press conference on January 1 (Wednesday). The press conference will resume on January 2 (Thursday). During the holiday, questions can be sent to the Spokesperson’s Office via fax, email or WeChat. 

This is the last regular press conference of the Foreign Ministry in 2024. Over the past year, we upheld fundamental principles while breaking new ground in diplomacy and achieved fruitful outcomes. A remarkable new chapter has been written in head-of-state diplomacy, new progress has been made in pursuing all-round diplomacy, new breakthroughs have been made in building a community with a shared future for mankind, and new outcomes have been achieved in serving the people through diplomacy. China’s policies, especially major concepts and initiatives put forth by President Xi Jinping, are supported and well-received by the international community. The Chinese path to modernization is gaining greater international significance.

Let me extend our thanks to you all for your attention to, support for and active coverage of China’s diplomacy in the past year. I wish you a very happy New Year!