Foreign minister to visit Africa next week

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will pay official visits to five African countries next week, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday. From Monday to Jan 9, Wang Yi will visit Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Botswana, Tanzania and Seychelles. Chinese foreign ministers have chosen Africa as their first overseas destination every year since 1991, and the spokesman said the upcoming trip, by following this tradition, manifests the great importance Beijing attaches to developing ties with the continent. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Africa have joined hands to combat the disease, he said, adding that the visit also shows China's sincerity and determination to deepen friendly relations with African countries in the post-epidemic era.

Six human rights bases established

Six national education and training bases on human rights were recently set up in China, bringing the number of such bases to 14.The new institutions are human rights research centers at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Jilin University, Northwest University of Political Science and Law, Central South University, Southeast University and Beijing Institute of Technology. Their establishment is an important move to implement the National Human Rights Action Plan (2016-20), according to a circular issued by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Ministry of Education. Launched in 2011, the bases promote the development of human rights by strengthening theoretical research and personnel training, as well as exchanges and cooperation.

Xinhua