China also rolled out about 900 assistance programs in Africa covering agriculture, health, education and other fields and offered training to over 30,000 local people since 2012, he said.
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The need for these changes is made evident by the current structure of most military organizations and meetings in China at present.
Xi will travel to South Africa from December 2-5 to serve as co-chairman of the Forum on China-African Cooperation and for his second state visit to that country, including a meeting with President Jacob Zuma.
“Anyone wearing coloured glasses or making remarks on China-Africa cooperation with ulterior motives in the face of the overwhelming facts will be powerless”, Wang said.
Beijing has brushed aside increasing worldwide criticism of its land reclamation activities in the South China Sea, where satellite images showed the construction of airstrips for either military or civilian use.
“As China-Africa trade cooperation moves into its next phase, there will be significant scope for diversification of our economies and exports, particularly into agriculture and manufacturing”, said Robin Mwanga, business information executive of Malawi’s national investment and trade center.
This comes as United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Executive Secretary Carlos Lopez said African leaders had to confront the reality that Chinese investment in Africa was not enough for the “mineral sacrifices” it was warranting.
According to The New York Times, President Jinping said at the September parade, “The Chinese military has over two million members, and Mr. Xi has embarked on an accelerated modernization of the armed forces, which would shift spending from the traditional land forces to more advanced sea and air forces, which require fewer but better trained personnel”.
This partially explains China’s continuing aid to African countries.
China’s engagement with Africa is changing. China is the continent’s largest bi-lateral trading partner, totaling over $200 billion past year, which is up from $10 billion in 2000.
Trade with resource-rich Africa has exploded in the last decade as China feeds its industrial machine amid African demand for cheap Chinese products.
Peace-keeping and security are also expected to be discussed at the summit.
South Africa, as host of the FOCAC summit, is a close ally of China.
Developed nations still have much to do in their pledges to provide money and transfer low-carbon and environmental friendly technologies to developing countries, Xie said.
It says the proposed base, located on the horn of Africa, will support Chinese peacekeeping and anti-piracy missions.
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China’s outsized presence may in part be due to its extensive “soft power” campaign in Africa, which has included launching Chinese state media on the continent and facilitating language lessons and visits for African students and politicians to China.
