The Pan Afrianist Watchman

On the 17^th of May, China’s Vice Foreign Minister Deng Li attended the Symposium Commemorating the Centenary of the Birth of Tanzania’s Founding President Julius Nyerere via video link.

Deng Li stressed that the elder generation of Chinese leaders established a profound revolutionary friendship with President Nyerere, which jointly laid a solid foundation for China-Africa friendship.

Over the decades, China and Africa have respected and treated each other as equals, supported each other on issues concerning respective core interests, and cooperated with each other in good faith on the journey of achieving modernization.

At present, in a world of profound changes unseen in a century, we need to learn from Nyerere and other elder generation of African leaders and think about the way to create an even better future for China and Africa.

Guided by President Xi Jinping’s calls to carry forward the spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation and build a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era, China will work with Africa to continue to firmly safeguard respective sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity, safeguard the equal rights to development, and promote the establishment of a more just and equitable new international order.

President of Zanzibar Hussein Ali Mwinyi and Executive Director of the  Mwalimu Nyerere Foundation (MNF) Joseph W. Butiku said that Nyerere firmly upheld the unity of the Tanzanian state and people and established the United Republic  of Tanzania together with the President of Zanzibar Abeid Karume, which has become  a fine example of unity, self-improvement , and economic prosperity for African  countries.

Nyerere made selfless contributions to the cause of national  liberation in Southern Africa and actively developed friendly relations with  China and other countries.

They believe that this symposium will play an  important role in carrying forward and developing the traditional friendship and  deepening all-round friendly cooperation between China and Tanzania.

The symposium was jointly hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania and the MNF and attended by representatives of Tanzanian political and business circles, think tanks, media, non-governmental organizations and other circles, Nyerere’s  family members and diplomatic envoys to Tanzania.

 President Xi: China’s resolve to open up won’t change

Chinese President Xi Jinping said China’s resolve to open up will not change, and its door will open wider to the world. President Xi made the remarks on the 18^th of May at the conference marking the 70th anniversary of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

He stressed the need to pull together to defeat COVID-19, reinvigorate trade and investment, unleash the power of innovation in driving development, and improve global governance.

While promising that China will continue to foster an enabling business environment that is based on market principles, governed by law, and up to international standards, President Xi called for joint efforts to uphold peace, development, cooperation, and win-win partnership, meet the problems facing the global economy, trade and investment, and usher in an even brighter future.

President Xi calls on BRICS countries to reject the Cold War mentality

Chinese President Xi Jinping on 19^th May called on the BRICS countries to reject Cold War mentality and bloc confrontation.

He made the appeal when delivering a video address at the opening session of the foreign ministers’ meeting of the emerging-market bloc that groups Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

Xi said the BRICS countries need to firm up belief, brave the storms and waves, and take real action to promote peace and development, uphold fairness and justice, advocate democracy and freedom; need to strengthen political mutual trust and security cooperation, and maintain close communication and coordination on major international and regional issues; need to accommodate each other’s core interests and major concerns, and respect each other’s sovereignty, security and development interests; and need to engage in dialogue and exchanges with more emerging markets and developing countries to increase mutual understanding and trust, tighten the bond of cooperation, and deepen the convergence of interests.

IMF raises Chinese yuan’s weighting in SDR basket

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised the weighting of the Chinese yuan, also known as the Renminbi, in the Special Drawing Right (SDR) currency basket, according to a press release on 14^th May. In its latest SDR valuation review, the IMF raised the yuan’s weighting to 12.28% from 10.92% and the U.S. dollar’s weighting from 41.73% to 43.38%. The other three currencies in the basket, the euro, Japanese yen and British pound, had their weightings reduced. The SDR is an international reserve asset to supplement the official reserves of the IMF member countries. The update retained the yuan’s weighting in third place in the SDR basket following the U.S. dollar and British pound.

Chinese oral COVID-19 drug effective against Omicron

Scientists have found that China’s oral COVID-19 nucleoside drug VV116 can shorten viral shedding time in patients infected with the Omicron variant of the virus by two to three days. Researchers from Fudan University conducted an open, prospective cohort study to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of VV116 in 136 patients hospitalized with the Omicron variant. The result shows that those who received VV116 within five days of their first positive test, had an average viral shedding time of 8.56 days, while those in the control group had an average time of 11.13 days. Researchers concluded that VV116 is a safe, effective oral antiviral drug, showing an improved performance during the early onset of Omicron infection.

(C) Chinese Embassy Weekly Newsletter (23^rd May 2022)