Your Excellency Liu Yang, Vice Governor of Hunan Provincial People's Government

Honorable Liu Deshun, Chief Engineer of the National Energy Administration

Your Excellency Mrs. Nardos Bekele-Thomas, the Chief Executive Officer of AUDA-NEPAD

Honorable Yi Yuechun, President of China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute (CREEI)

Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Good morning.

It is a distinct honor to be with you in Yueyang, a city of significant historical and cultural heritage. As one of the co-organizers of this conference, the African Union Permanent Mission to China extends a warm welcome to our African brothers and sisters who have travelled great distances, and to all guests attending the Third China–Africa Energy Cooperation Project Promotion Conference. Today, Chinese and African friends have gathered here across vast distances, bearing witness to the long and enduring friendship between China and Africa.

I wish to acknowledge the presence of Her Excellency Dr. Nardos Thomas Bekele-Thomas, the CEO of AUDA-NEPAD, the Ambassadors of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, the Kingdom of Lesotho, Chargé d' Affaires of Libya, and Zambia, as well as a number of African diplomats based in Beijing. Thank you for your commitment to promoting the Africa Agenda in China!

Let me from the outset on behalf of H.E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Chairperson of the AU Commission commend H.E. President Xi Jinping for his strong and clear leadership that continues to deepen China-Africa relations. As we meet here today, China under the able leadership of President Xi is celebrating its two miracles of rapid economic growth and long-term social stability.

The theme of this conference, “Building a China–Africa Green Energy Partnership,” is closely aligned with the energy vision of the African Union’s Agenda 2063. Agenda 2063 establishes integration and infrastructure connectivity as central pillars of Africa’s transformation and explicitly envisions regional and continental power pools as key instruments for integrated, resilient and sustainable energy development. Africa has substantial renewable energy resources, including solar, wind and hydropower. Turning these resource advantages into development momentum is, first and foremost, a process of implementing Africa’s own plans. The AU has adopted the African Green Hydrogen Strategy, the African Energy Efficiency Strategy and Action Plan, and the African Energy Transition Strategy and Action Plan, providing a continental framework for a just, inclusive and equitable energy transition. The AU is ready to work with China to promote the application and diffusion of clean energy technologies and equipment in Africa, so that green energy cooperation serves Africa’s industrialization, energy security and self-reliant development.

In this connection, I would like to offer three observations in light of the AU’s continental frameworks.

First, China–Africa energy cooperation has aligned with the AU’s continental agenda. Agenda 2063 identifies the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) as the core implementation framework for the infrastructure sector. The second Priority Action Plan of PIDA emphasises cross-border transmission, hydropower and regional power interconnection. These projects are gradually producing results: the Kenya–Tanzania interconnection has been commissioned, linking the Eastern Africa Power Pool and the Southern African Power Pool and providing an early demonstration of the African Single Electricity Market (AfSEM) and the Continental Power System Masterplan (CMP); a hydropower project jointly developed by Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has entered the implementation stage; and pre-feasibility studies for cross-border corridors such as Burundi–Tanzania and Angola–the DRC have been completed. Clean energy projects implemented by Chinese enterprises in Africa are creating synergies within this continental planning framework and aligning with Africa’s own agenda. The China–AU Energy Partnership has provided a platform for policy dialogue and technical exchanges. The AU appreciates this and looks forward to further aligning cooperation with the project pipelines of PIDA and CMP.

Second, we should connect this promotion platform to Africa’s priority project pipeline. The solar, wind, hydropower and grid projects promoted at this conference are consistent with the direction of AfSEM and CMP, which the AU is advancing. AfSEM aims to establish a unified electricity market across the continent, while CMP provides a roadmap for connecting Africa’s major power pools and expanding the continent’s installed capacity over time. The AU’s priority is to move beyond planning documents and turn cross-border interconnection and clean generation projects into bankable and deliverable projects. Africa has abundant renewable energy resources, and China has vast experience in clean energy technologies and engineering construction. The complementarity between the two sides is clearly reflected in these specific corridors and projects. The AU hopes that all participants will fully utilize this platform to conduct in-depth matching around the priority project pipeline already identified by the continent, and to incorporate cooperation outcomes into the implementation process of PIDA and CMP, so as to benefit the African people more widely.

Third, we should deepen the green energy partnership on the basis of Africa’s own frameworks. Africa’s energy transition must be just, inclusive and development-oriented. The AU has made clear that energy cooperation should serve universal access, industrialization and long-term energy security, rather than the expansion of installed capacity alone. The AU is ready to work with China to strengthen cooperation in expanding renewable energy development, cross-border energy infrastructure connectivity, green technology innovation, capacity building and personnel training, and investment and financing support. We should focus on supporting the implementation of the PIDA energy project pipeline and CMP priority interconnection corridors, and on supporting Africa in building local capacity in manufacturing, maintenance and operations.

At the same time, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) provides a market for local production of energy technologies and components in Africa. Green energy cooperation should be linked to Africa’s industrialization process, so that new electricity generation contributes to local value creation to the maximum extent feasible.

Distinguished guests, dear friends! Seventy years ago, China and Africa embarked on a historic course of friendly exchanges; seventy years later, Africa is at a critical stage in moving the energy goals of Agenda 2063 from blueprint to implementation.

I would like to conclude by reaffirming the AU’s readiness to partner with China to promote more deliverable, sustainable and African-owned outcomes in China–Africa green energy cooperation, through its various instruments, most notably PIDA, AfSEM and CMP, as implementation tools. Needless to say, doing so would contribute to building the all-weather China–Africa community with a shared future for the new era through energy cooperation in the spirit of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit.

I wish all our esteemed participants fruitful deliberations and good health.

May the tree of China–Africa friendship remain evergreen.

Long live the Sino-African partnership.

Xie Xie

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