China and North Africa since World War II by Olimat Muhamad S.;

Author:Olimat, Muhamad S.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781498504300
Publisher: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic
Published: 2017-05-16T00:00:00+00:00

SINO-MOROCCAN CULTURAL COOPERATION

China considers cultural interaction just as important as political and economic relations, so does Morocco, a country rich in its history, culture and civilizational contributions. The first cultural agreement, signed on March 19, 1975, and known as the Chinese-Moroccan Agreement on Cooperation for constructing a sports complex in Morocco. On the same day, both countries signed a Protocol on China sending medical teams to Morocco. Medical care was urgently needed in North Africa after the post-independence departure of healthcare personnel from Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, and Mauritania. China, fully aware of the ensuing gap, began sending healthcare providers to Africa. Since 1963, “China has sent 73,000 medical workers to 66 countries and regions, treating about 270 million people in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Oceania.”7 Albeit, healthcare services are still urgently needed in these countries despite the relative improvement of the health sector in North Africa. Moroccan countryside, Sudanese, Libyan and Mauritanian is in dire need for basic health services. In fact, Africa is the main beneficiary of China’s healthcare dispatch program since the 1960s, especially Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and several other countries. China developed this model during the early 1960s in response to independent Algeria’s medical needs. Since then, healthcare aid has become an integral part of its foreign policy toward the Third World. In fact, China is currently building 100 hospitals worldwide, thirty of which are in Africa.

Another aspect of Sino-Moroccan and Sino-African relations is China’s 2011 inauguration of the China-Africa People’s Forum (CAPF) to further its support of Africa’s social development. Morocco participated in the 2011 and 2012 meetings. The forum also serves as a point of contact between Beijing and the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Africa. China realizes the stiff competition and challenges that its medical teams and social services providers face in Africa from the West and the “distorted” media coverage, which China believes “undermines” its presence in the continent.

During King Mohammed VI’s 2002 visit to China, both countries discussed a wide range of socio-cultural developmental aspects in such fields as healthcare, the environment, human development, training, tourism, and sports. The following treaties were signed: The Protocol of Cooperation in the Fields of Social Development, Employment, and Vocational Training; the Agreement on Environmental Cooperation; the Agreement on Health Cooperation; the Agreement on Tourism Cooperation; the Cooperative Agreement between the Administration of Radio, Film, and Television of China and the Bureau of Radio and Television in Morocco; and the Cooperative Agreement between the Xinhua News Agency of the PRC and the Maghreb Arab Press Agency of Morocco.

Morocco, the “Garden of North Africa,” is a major international tourism destination due to its rich history, culture, and scenic landscape. Tourism accounts “for about 10 percent of Morocco’s $105 billion economy, second to the agricultural sector, and employs 400,000 people. Last year, tourist arrivals rose 7 percent, though visitors spent less than in previous years – receipts rose by only 0.5 percent to about 58 billion dirhams ($7 billion).”8 Morocco receives 10 million tourists annually, but only 10,000 of China’s approximately 88 million tourists ever make it to Morocco.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.