国内英语新闻:Top Chinese political advisor delivers speech at 18th AU summit

ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Top Chinese political advisor Jia Qinglin delivered a speech on Sunday morning at the opening ceremony of the 18th African Union (AU) summit.

Before his speech, Jia, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, presented the congratulatory message from Chinese President Hu Jintao to the summit.

"Since the beginning of the 21st century, China-Africa relations have grown rapidly and made in-depth progress on all fronts. The establishment and development of the Forum on China- Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and the new type of strategic partnership between China and Africa have boosted bilateral exchanges and cooperation in the political, economic, trade and cultural fields, making our political trust stronger, our shared interests closer and the friendship between our peoples deeper," said Hu in his message.

"Going forward, we will continue to work with the African side to build upon past achievements and take the new type of China- Africa strategic partnership to a higher and broader plane, thus making even greater contribution to the cause of peace and development in Africa and the world as a whole." Hu added.

After delivering Hu's message, Jia said "We are glad to see that the AU has become an important force for peace, stability and development in Africa and the world as a whole thanks to its growth over the decade. We have every reason to believe that, under its guidance, Africa will make even greater and more solid progress along the path of strength through unity."

Jia said, "China views and develops its relations with Africa from a strategic and long-term perspective. We will look harder with African countries to bring the new type of China-Africa strategic partnership to higher level."

The Chinese top political advisor put forward five proposals to boost China-Africa ties including promoting the traditional friendship between China and Africa, intensifying coordination and cooperation on international and regional issues, endeavoring to raise the level of economic cooperation, expanding people-to people exchanges, and enhancing the building of FOCAC.

Jia also announced that China will provide a total of 600 million yuan (about 95 million U.S. dollars) free assistance to the AU in the next three years.