The roundtable meeting of the FOCAC Beijing Summit convened on Sept. 4. Photo: Li Tao /XINHUA

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In his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) on Sept. 3, Chinese President Xi Jinping advocated building a China-Africa community with a shared future, highlighting joint responsibility, win-win cooperation, happiness for all, cultural prosperity, common security, and harmony between man and nature.

Joint responsibility involves China-Africa cooperation at both the bilateral and international levels, said He Wenping, a research fellow at the Institute of West-Asian and African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The rise of emerging markets and developing countries has become a trend, and reform of the global governance system and the international order has accelerated. At the same time, hegemonism and power politics still exist, and trade protectionism and unilateralism are constantly rising. China is the largest developing country, and Africa is the continent with the largest number of developing countries. The two have a responsibility to cooperate on major international and regional issues and safeguard the common interests of developing countries.

Development is a common aspiration for China and Africa. Since the establishment of the FOCAC in 2000, China-Africa economic and trade cooperation has been growing by leaps and bounds.

“The essence of China-Africa cooperation is mutual benefit,” said Chen Mingkun, deputy director of the Institute of African Studies at Zhejiang Normal University. Cooperation on production capacity is an important part of China-Africa joint construction for the “Belt and Road” initiative (B&R). For African countries that are accelerating industrialization, China’s affluent and advantageous production capacity, which has been transferred overseas due to economic restructuring and upgrading, can solve some of the problems that restrict Africa’s development, such as shortage of funds, technology and talent, while keeping in line with Africa’s need to foster endogenous and independent sustainable development.

In the process of connecting the B&R with the African Union’s (AU) Agenda 2063 and with African countries’ development strategies, China-Africa cooperation in traditional fields will be further deepened, said Zhang Zhongxiang, director of the Center for African Studies at Shanghai Normal University. In new economic fields, with the rapid development of China’s internet economy, cross-border e-commerce is becoming a new engine for promoting B&R trade. In recent years, some Chinese e-commerce companies have begun to enter the African market and make profits.

Mu Tao, director of the Institute of African Studies at East China Normal University, noted that the eight major initiatives announced at the Beijing Summit are closely related to the promotion of people’s livelihood and welfare in Africa. For example, implementing 50 agricultural assistance programs, sending 500 senior agriculture experts to Africa, and training young researchers in agri-science and entrepreneurs in agri-business will help Africa achieve basic food security and solve the biggest livelihood problems of food and clothing.

In addition, the high mortality rate of the African population has severely restricted its economic and social development. China will help the African people improve their health and extend the average life expectancy by upgrading medical and health aid programs and training medical specialists for Africa, Mu continued.

For a long time, China has actively participated in the UN’s peacekeeping operations in Africa, supported the AU’s collective security mechanism and bolstered African countries’ security capacity in combating piracy and terrorism, said Luo Jianbo, a professor from the Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC. China has also engaged in the resolution of hotspot issues in Africa and played a constructive role in promoting peace and stability.

The decision announced at the Beijing Summit to set up a China-Africa peace and security fund and establish a China-Africa peace and security forum will provide greater support for China-Africa security cooperation and African security capacity building, Luo continued.

The decision to launch a green development initiative is another highlight of the Beijing Summit. With the rapid development of China-Africa economic and trade relations, an increasing number of Chinese enterprises have entered Africa. Launching a green development initiative can be seen as a declaration from China that Chinese companies will not promote local economic growth at the expense of the environment. This is in line with China’s concept of domestic development, and it also reveals China’s sense of responsibility and commitment to the international community as a major country, Chen concluded.

Africa’s ecology is fragile and faces many threats such as climate change, desertification and soil erosion, which requires Africa to protect the natural environment in the process of industrialization and agricultural modernization. Luo said that China is willing to participate in global environmental governance, of which an important approach is helping Africa achieve green and sustainable development.

 

(edited by JIANG HONG)