Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – 25 June 2016: H.E Erastus Mwencha, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), on 22 June 2016 met with H.E Liu Yunshan, First-ranked Secretary of the Central Secretariat of the Communist Party of China (CPC) , Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of CPC, also considered as the de facto top decision-making body of China. The meeting took place at Great Hall of the People (Parliament Building) in Beijing, China.
Mr. Liu Yunshan who is among the highest level of leadership in governance of China, received in audience African heads of delegation who attended the 3rd Forum on China-Africa Media Cooperation held on 21June 2016 in Beijing, China, under the theme: “Win-win cooperation, common development”.

Organized by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television of China (SAPPRFT) in collaboration with the African Union of Broadcasting (AUB), the Media Forum was a follow-up on one of the outcomes of the FOCAC Summit (Forum on China-Africa Cooperation) that took place on the 4th and 5th of December 2015 in Johannesburg, South Africa on the theme "China-Africa Progressing Together: Win-Win Cooperation for Common Development".

H.E Erastus Mwencha, along side 20 African Ministers and the CEO of the African Union Broadcasting , exchanged views with Mr. Liu Yunshan on the outcome of the just ended China-Africa Media Forum, notably about the substance of the joint final statement that was issued at the closing of the Forum.

The African delegation expressed appreciation to the Government of the People’s Republic of China for organizing the Media Forum that provided a platform for the Ministers of Information, Communication and ICTs to share their views and learn from the Chinese experience with the view to improve the digitalization and technology revolution in Africa. They underscored the need to continue to strengthen the collective dialogue, consolidate Africa-China traditional friendship, deepen strategic collaboration and enhance the mechanism of practical cooperation between China and Africa.

Fifteen MoU were signed during the Forum between African countries and China to enhance the cooperation in capacity building as well as technology transfer among others.
During the audience with Mr. Liu Yunshan, the later reiterated his country’s commitment to work very closely with the African Union and its member countries to promote media policies and regulations in African and China countries, media cooperation and capacity building as well as digitalization of broadcasting and new media development. He noted that content exchange is important to bring the people of Africa and China together in spite of the geographical distance separating them.
Mr. Liu Yunshan instructed the Planning Commission of China to work towards the implementation of the agreement reached in the final Communiqué of the 3rd Forum on China-Africa Media Cooperation. This Commission is made up of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Communication, Infrastructure and Technology of China.
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Media Contact:

Mrs. Esther Azaa Tankou
Ag. Director of Information and Communication
Tel: +251(0) 911361185 / E-mail: yamboue@africa-union.org

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