China-Africa Environmental Cooperation Center launched

The country's top environmental authority launched the China-Africa Environmental Cooperation Center on Tuesday in Beijing, seeking to increase China's collaboration with African nations on environmental issues.

"Chinese and African people share a common wish to enjoy a beautiful environment and prosperous life. The environmental sector is a key cooperation field for China and Africa," said Huang Runqiu, minister of ecology and environment, at a launch ceremony for the center in Beijing.

He said that China has so far signed agreements with five African countries, including South Africa and Ethiopia, and since 2015 it has helped train over 900 Africans through workshops on urban environmental management and water pollution control.

China has also signed 14 deals on tackling climate change with 13 African nations since 2011, and has donated a large amount of equipment to help countries in the continent cope with climate change, including more than 10,000 sets of solar photovoltaic power generation equipment and launching a small satellite.

A concrete action implementing President Xi Jinping's call for setting up a China-Africa environmental cooperation center at the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the establishment of the center will be a key platform and a new starting point to help deepen and enrich cooperation between China and the continent on environmental issues, Huang said.

Huang also suggested strengthening policy exchanges between the two sides by organizing a China-Africa environmental cooperation dialogue and implementing the China-Africa Green Envoys Program, which aims to enhance Africa's capability for environmental management, pollution prevention and control, and green development.

He said China will also make efforts to promote a China-Africa innovation program to boost the two sides' cooperation on environmental technologies.

Deng Li, assistant minister of foreign affairs, said the establishment of the center will offer a new platform to ramp up China and Africa's exchange of information on industries and technologies around the environment and roll out joint research on environmental issues.

"Sustaining close communication and coordination with the African side and making intensified efforts to pursue greater cooperation on policies, China, together with African nations, will endeavor to contribute its wisdom and solutions to the global response to climate change," he said.