Mozambique donated 40,000 yuan to the Wenchuan ** disaster area.
2008 is a year of special significance for every Chinese. The success of the Beijing Olympic Games has made Beijing the focus of the world, and China has won praise from the world for its outstanding construction achievements and profound cultural heritage, and our international influence is also increasing day by day.
However, in this year, the Sichuan region suffered a disaster that is rare in the world, countless compatriots lost their lives in the disaster, and countless homes were also destroyed in the disaster.
However, under the leadership of the party and the state, the sons and daughters of the Chinese people in various localities have persevered, endured their bitter grief, straightened their backs with an indomitable spirit, actively participated in the work of earthquake relief and post-disaster reconstruction, and did their best to provide help and warmth to the people in the disaster areas.
In this process, many countries, international organizations and friends have extended a helping hand and expressed their humanitarian concern and support to us. Among them, there is a country that has donated 40,000 yuan, and this country is Mozambique, an agricultural country located in southeast Africa.
As Chinese, we should be grateful and respectful to all the countries, organizations and individuals who have helped us after Wenchuan in 2008, regardless of the amount of donation or the order of time.
If we turn our attention to Mozambique, we will be even more moved: the contribution of this old African friend who is facing the same difficulties as us is truly admirable!
The Struggle in Mozambique: The History of a Nation Fighting for Freedom and Justice"
In 1976, the Mozambican National Resistance Movement was formed, beginning a long armed conflict with the Mozambican National Resistance Movement. In 1977, newly independent Mozambique was plunged into the abyss of civil war.
The war lasted for more than a decade, and it was not until October 1992, when the two sides signed a peace agreement in Rome, that real peace was ushered in in Mozambique. The war killed more than a million people, left more than 4 million people, and fled more than 1.5 million people to other countries.
With a population of only about 16 million, Mozambique is a testament to the brutality and trauma of war. In "The Sleepwalking Earth," Mia Cotto wrote, "You have become wild beasts, without a home, without a nation.
This war is not to get you out of your country, but to get your country out of you".
The war not only destroyed homes, caused loss of people and property, but also brought immeasurable opportunity costs. Mozambique, for example, had a GDP of 35 in 1980$2.6 billion, but in 1992 it fell to $264 billion US dollars, even if some progress has been made on the road of peaceful development, the GDP in 2008 was only 125$5.6 billion.
This achievement is inseparable from the promotion of international economic assistance. According to the Human Development Report 2016 released by the United Nations, Mozambique's human development index in 2015 was only 0418, ranking 8th from the bottom out of 188 countries in the world.
Mozambique is a country of extremely uneven development, and its human development index takes into account life expectancy, per capita income and education level, all of which unfortunately do poorly, making it one of the least developed countries in the world.
In addition, more than half of Mozambique's budget depends on international aid, and more than half of its population still lived below the poverty line in 2009.
Despite such enormous economic difficulties, Mozambique extended a helping hand to us in 2008. This spirit of selfless assistance is deeply appreciated and touched.
In 2008, Mozambique gave us 40,000 yuan in aid in its own predicament, and this friendship is like a goose feather, although light, but carrying thousands of miles. Repay with a spring.
In fact, before 2008, China had repeatedly provided large amounts of humanitarian aid to Mozambique, and after 2008, China has returned much more to Mozambique than Yongquan, and even Western countries have envied it.
China has become one of Mozambique's largest investors, and the cooperation between the two countries covers a wide range of areas, from traditional forms of aid such as donations and construction aid, to classic cooperation of "teaching and fishing".
According to statistics, the three cooperation agreements signed between China and Mozambique in 2017 included a donation of US$15 million for the construction of the Xai-Xai airport in Gaza province, providing 100 public buses and satellite TV services in 500 villages.
In March 2019, when Mozambique was hit by Tropical Cyclone Idai, organizations such as the Central African Development Association jointly donated 100 tons of rice to the country to help the affected residents.
In addition, after a terrorist attack in northern Mozambique in October 2021, China once again donated practical supplies such as rice and flour to help refugees. Such cases are not uncommon between China and Mozambique.
It can be seen that China's assistance to Mozambique is not only at the level of donations and construction, but also helps Mozambique improve its economic strength and sustainable development capacity through cooperation in the form of "teaching Mozambique to fish".
In November 2018, China and Mozambique signed the China-Mozambique Economic and Social Development Cooperation Plan, which aims to promote Mozambique's economic and social development through a series of cooperation projects.
These cooperation projects will not only help to improve Mozambique's economic development, but also help promote the development of education, medical and other social undertakings in Mozambique, and bring tangible benefits to the people of Mozambique.
The mega-project across the Bay of Maputo connects the centre of Maputo with the Catembe region, removing barriers to development in the region and significantly shortening the drive from Maputo to the South African border, which has a positive impact on economic and trade exchanges between the two countries.
It is worth noting that as the contractor of the project, China Road and Bridge Company not only built basic supporting facilities such as schools and police stations for free for local residents, but also improved water and electricity**.
Mozambique's agricultural status is very important, with 80 per cent of the country's 30 million people engaged in agriculture, but it still needs to import food every year to make ends meet. Therefore, this project is of great significance for the development of agriculture and the stability of the country in Mozambique.
Wanbao Agriculture Project is known for its integrated industrial model, covering farmland development, crop planting, grain storage, food processing and finished product sales.
Although the project has experienced many difficulties, it has finally formed a development model of China-Africa equity investment and industrial investment of China Railway 20th Bureau. This model allows the Chinese side to provide both capital and technology to help Mozambique achieve the rational development of agricultural resources and the development of farmers without increasing the debt burden.
Through the cooperative planting model of "company + small farmers", Wanbao Agricultural Park has driven more than 500 farmer families and solved the employment problem of nearly 1,000 people. This not only increases the income and improves the lives of local residents, but also provides them with advanced planting techniques and agricultural management solutions through vocational training.
The importance of Wanbao Agricultural Park lies not only in its economic and social benefits, but also in the fact that it provides Mozambique with a replicable and fast-paced model for the development of agricultural projects, which is worth promoting in the long run.
The China-Mozambique Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center invested and built by China in Mozambique not only includes the Wanbao project, but also involves a number of core sectors such as seed breeding, animal husbandry, grain processing, intensive processing of agricultural and sideline products, warehousing and logistics.
The project covers an area of 52 hectares and has three parks in Maputo, Gaza and Sofala provinces, realizing the development of the whole industrial chain. In addition, the project also distributed seeds of various crops such as tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, and rice free of charge, helping local farmers increase their yield per mu and increase their income.
At the same time, the project also provides farmers with vocational training in planting, management and maintenance of agricultural machinery, as well as benefits for purchasing Chinese agricultural machinery at cost price.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, China has extended a helping hand to Mozambique. In May 2020, the 22nd batch of doctors from Dr. Mozambique organized medical experts from West China Maternity and Children's Hospital of Sichuan University to conduct perinatal epidemic prevention training for children and pregnant women at Maputo Central Hospital as part of a series of training on COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control.
A year later, China donated the first batch of COVID vaccines to Mozambique to help it achieve its plan to vaccinate frontline workersOn August 4, 2021, Mozambique New Zealand** announced the launch of a large-scale nationwide vaccination campaign, and China provided the second batch of COVID-19 vaccines on the 6th of that month.
Then, in December 2021, China again provided Mozambique with a vaccine to combat the new wave of the epidemic caused by the Omicron strain. In addition, many Chinese enterprises and associations have also donated masks and other medical and epidemic prevention materials to Mozambique.
The depth and breadth of China's assistance to Mozambique cannot be fully expressed in words, and it is inevitable that it will be envied and admired.
Many people wonder why African countries are lagging behind in development, even though they have received large amounts of international aidFor this reason, many scholars have conducted in-depth research, some believe that the influence of physical geography is the influence, some blame it on political corruption, and some even throw out ethnography to cover up the facts.
However, in fact, we see that many African countries, including Mozambique, only became independent after World War II, lack experience in nation-building, and are not deeply involved in the global economic division of labor.
This phenomenon is particularly evident in Mozambique, which became independent and achieved peace much later.
Western aid to Mozambique is not a mere donation, but has a clear political purpose. According to statistics, these aids are mainly used in the field of people's livelihood, such as medical care, education and water, etc., and part of it is also used for the budget.
However, such assistance is often accompanied by specific conditions, such as open investment policies, a free financial environment, strict environmental standards, transparent fiscal balances and democratic political systems.
On the face of it, these conditions seem reasonable and just, and they call for Mozambique** to improve for the better. However, the current political and economic system and related technical standards of Western countries were established only after the completion of primitive capital accumulation and industrialization, and the maturity of any economy has its necessary stages of development.
Therefore, we cannot expect Mozambique to immediately meet the standards of Western countries.
Mozambique's industrial base is weak, its facilities are not perfect, and even agriculture has a large amount of untapped resources, so it cannot meet high standards and requirements. Aid is only a consummation, and it does not build an endogenous virtuous circle.
China's foreign aid is characterized by the absence of political strings attached.
China's cooperation with Mozambique is wide-ranging, but all focus on key areas where Mozambique needs to improve. We have helped them create a model of agricultural development that is viable, effective and easy to scale.
Mozambique is rich in natural resources and has great potential for development, as long as we find the right path and persevere, we have reason to believe that the future of Mozambique is full of hope!
The Rovuma Basin in Mozambique is rich in oil and gas resources, with proven natural gas reserves of more than 100 billion cubic feet, ranking 13th in the world. In addition, Mozambique also has world-class coal, graphite, tantalum, titanium, heavy placer ore and other mineral resources, of which tantalum ore reserves are as high as 75 billion tons, the world's first.
With a coastline of 2,630 kilometres, Mozambique is blessed with tourism and fishery resources. There are many rivers and abundant water resources in the territory, and there are 36 million hectares of arable land, and the actual cultivation rate is only 20%, showing the huge potential of agriculture.
Despite the complex history and objective difficulties in the development of Mozambique, under the framework of the "Belt and Road" and the "Community with a Shared Future for Mankind", China and Mozambique will work together to make Mozambique a bright future!