As the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) draws near, Chinese and African leaders will reconvene in Beijing to outline a vision for deepening China-Africa friendship, collaboration, cooperation and advancing mutual development.
Strengthening solidarity and cooperation with African nations has long been a fundamental aspect of China’s foreign policy and remains a steadfast strategy.
China is committed to advancing solidarity and cooperation with Africa under the principles of sincerity, real results, affinity and good faith and pursuing the greater good and shared interests. China stands together with the African people and will pursue common development with African countries on the basis of mutual respect. From the “Ten Major Cooperation Plans” and “Eight Major Initiatives” to the “Nine Programs” under the framework of FOCAC, President Xi Jinping has drawn a blueprint for China-Africa cooperation and led China-Africa relations to a new level. Under the top-level designs of Chinese and African leaders, China and Africa have continuously deepened cooperation on platforms such as the Belt and Road Initiative and FOCAC, benefiting the people of both sides.
Firstly, political mutual trust between China and Africa continues to deepen. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, China and Africa have always been good friends who stand together through prosperity and adversity, good partners who share weal and woe, and good brothers who fully trust each other in a changing international landscape. China and Africa continue to support each other in international affairs, jointly oppose hegemony and power politics, and promote the establishment of a new international political and economic order that is just and reasonable. China values the AU’s leading role in advancing African integration and building a stronger African continent through unity, and supports its dominant role in safeguarding peace and security in Africa. China also supports the AU in playing a bigger role in regional and international affairs and speaks up for Africa at the United Nations and on other multilateral occasions.
Secondly, the economic cooperation between China and Africa continues to flourish. China has been Africa’s largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years. In 2023, China-Africa trade volume reached US$282.1 billion, setting a new historical peak for the second consecutive year. By the end of 2023, China’s direct investment stock in Africa exceeded US$40 billion, making China one of the largest sources of foreign investment in Africa. In the past 3 years, Chinese companies have created more than 1.1 million jobs in Africa. Over the past 10 years, Chinese companies have signed contracting projects worth more than US$700 billion in Africa, and Africa is China’s second largest overseas contracting market. China-Africa cooperation in emerging fields such as aerospace and e-commerce are also gaining strong momentum.
Thirdly, cultural and people-to-people exchanges has yielded fruitful results. In the field of health care, by the end of 2023, China has dispatched 25,000 medical experts to Africa, covering 48 African countries and 230 million patients. The China-aided Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has completed and been handed over to the African side in 2023.
In poverty reduction and farmers empowerment, China has sent dozens teams of agricultural experts to Africa, and the Chinese hybrid rice has been introduced in more than 20 African countries.
China has built 24 agricultural model centers in Africa, implemented more than 300 advanced agricultural technologies, and increased the average local crop yields by 30% to 60%, benefiting more than 1 million African farmers.
In the field of education and training, China has set up scholarship programs to support outstanding African youth to study in China, established a trust fund project at UNESCO and trained more than 10,000 teachers in African countries, and built 17 “Luban Workshops” in Africa for Africa’s vocational education development and innovation.
China is the largest developing country and Africa is the continent with the largest number of developing countries. The world today is undergoing major changes unseen in a century. China and Africa need to stay united more than ever.
I believe the coming Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit will paint a bright future for China-Africa cooperation. Under the joint leadership of Chinese and African leaders, China and Africa will continue to move forward hand in hand, write a new chapter in the construction of a China-Africa community with a shared future, and continue to create a better future for China-Africa relations!
Written By: H.E. TONG Defa, Ambassador of China to Ghana.