Call to deepen China-Africa co-op

China and Africa should intensify their business and trade relations and deepen convergence of interests in their joint commitment to economic development and the improvement of people's livelihoods, Li Jinjun, the executive vice-president of the China NGO Network for International Exchanges (CNIE),?said at the closing ceremony of the 2nd China-Africa People's Forum on Wednesday.

The two-day forum, held in the East China city of Suzhou, puts forth five proposals for the 5th Ministerial Conference Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

The proposals call upon China and Africa to take the opportunities together and deepen cooperation in the implementation of the outcome documents from the Ministerial Conference, for this is a shared responsibility and obligation of both governments and NGOs in China and Africa.

China and Africa should maintain close coordination and collaboration so as to tackle challenges concerning food security, resource conservation and exploitation, energy security, public health security, as well as environmental risks, climate change, and major natural disasters, the proposals suggested.

Efforts should be made to promote dialogue and understanding between NGOs and governments, so that they can shoulder the mission of development together and share responsibilities and challenges in close cooperation.

China and Africa should explore new avenues and measures in their cooperation, and the exchanges among NGOs of both sides should be encouraged in culture, education, media and think-tanks in synergy with governments, according to the proposals.

These proposals call on the Chinese and African governments to encourage and facilitate NGOs to engage in practical and mutually beneficial cooperation on livelihood projects in the fields of agriculture, poverty reduction, health, environmental protection and women and youth development.

The second China-Africa People's Forum, jointly organized by the CNIE, the African Union Commission and several African NGOs, focused on the new ideas of a China-Africa win-win cooperation agreement, new measures for both common development and new mechanisms for NGO exchanges.