September6,1963:ChairmanMaoZedongmeetswithmembersofthevisitingKenyaAfricanNationalUnion(KANU)delegation.byLiuQingrui/Xinhua
December19,1967:ChinesePremierZhouEnlaimeetsadelegationfromtheTanganyikaAfricanNationalUnionfromTanzania.byLiuJianguo/XinhuaTheBeijingSummitoftheForumonChina-AfricaCooperation(FOCAC)scheduledforSeptemberwillbethethirdsummitoftheforumsinceitsinceptionin2000.ItwillmarkthefirsttimethattwoFOCACsummitsareheldconsecutively,followingtheJohannesburgSummitin2015.Evenbeforeitsopening,theBeijingSummithasdrawnglobalattentionandinparticular,inspiredAfricancountries.
ExpectationsforFOCAC,toalargeextent,stemfromthreemajorfactors.
Theforemostfactor,whichisalsomostfrequentlycited,isthatFOCAChasdriventherapiddevelopmentofChina-Africarelationssinceitsinception.Overthepast18years,theannualtradevolumebetweenChinaandAfricamultiplied17times,fromUS$10billionin2000toUS$170billionin2017,whileChina’sinvestmentinAfricarosetoUS$40billionfromalmostnothing.Alongsidesuchdirectlyvisibleachievements,China-Africacooperationhasalsocreatedsignificantandfar-reachingstrategicandtheoreticalresults.
Toalargeextent,FOCACcanpromoterapiddevelopmentofChina-Africacooperationbecauseofitsstabilityandpredictability—themostimportantassetsinaworldfullofuncertainties.OfallcooperationmechanismsrelatedtoAfricaglobally,FOCACisoneofonlyafewtooperateonschedulefornearly20years.Forinstance,theEU-AfricaSummit,launchedin2000,didn’tconveneitssecondmeetinguntil2007andmissedonein-between.ThelatestKorea-AfricaForum,whichwasplannedforMay2014,waspostponedmorethantwoyearstoDecember2016.ThelatestIndia-AfricaForumSummitandTurkey-AfricaEconomicandBusinessForumwerebothdelayedmorethanayear.DespitethemultiplecooperationmechanismsbetweentheUnitedStatesandAfrica,theU.S.-AfricaLeadersSummitwasonlyheldoncein2014.Sinceitsinceptionin2000,FOCAChasbeenheldonceeverythreeyearsinadditiontorelevantmeetingsofforeignministersandotherhigh-rankingofficialsandcoordinationconferencesonactionplansimplementation.FOCAC’shigh-degreestabilityandpredictabilityhaveprovidedasoundstrategicandpolicyenvironmentforcooperation.
ThesecondfactordrivingFOCAC’ssuccessisthatChinaprovidesanalternativeoptionforAfricancountriestosolvetheirpracticalproblems.Inthefirsthalfofthe20thcentury,China’snationalliberationmovementsetanexampleforthenationalindependenceofAfricancountries.Forthisreason,foundingleadersofthePeople’sRepublicofChinasuchasMaoZedongandZhouEnlaiestablishedprofoundandintimatefriendshipswithAfricanleaderslikeKwameNkrumah,KennethKaundaandJuliusNyerere.SuchhistoricalconnectionslaidasolidcornerstoneforcontemporaryChina-Africacooperation.Asarule,moreinteractionstriggermorefrictions.However,itissuchemotionalconnectionthatputsthebrakesonthenegativefactorsofChina-Africacooperationandpreventsfrictionsfromescalating.StatisticsreleasedbythePewResearchCentershowthatmostAfricancountries’favorabilitytowardsChinaremainedabove60percentthroughouttheentiredecadefrom2007to2017.
Today,ChinahassetanewexampleforAfricawithitsdevelopmentexperienceandachievements;a“greatreversal”hasbeenhappeningbetweenChinaandAfricasincetheadoptionofthereformingandopening-uppolicy.In1978,China’snominalGDPwasaboutUS$149.5billion,andthatofSub-SaharanAfricawasUS$180.6billion,includingUS$46.7billionofSouthAfrica,US$36.5billionofNigeriaandUS$5.3billionofKenya.China’sGDPhadmultiplied81timessincetoreachUS$12trillionbytheendof2017,muchmorethanthatoftheentireAfricancontinent,letaloneanysingleAfricancountry.
1969:AChinesemedicalteamprovidesmedicalservicesforlocalherdersintheSaharainAlgeria.SinceChinadispatcheditsfirstmedicalaidteamtoAfricain1963,Chinesemedicalaidworkershavetreatedmillionsofpatientsandtrainedtensofthousandsofmedicalworkersinover50Africancountriesandregions.Xinhua
September18,1974:ThenZambianPresidentKennethKaundaandotherofficialsinspecttheChambishiRiverBridgeoftheTanzania-ZambiaRailway.The1,860-kilometer-longTanzaniaZambiaRailwaywasoneofthemajorprojectsaidedbyChinainAfricaduringthe1970s.XinhuaAfricanCountries’FavorabilitytowardsChina2007-2017
ThesamehappenedintermsofpercapitaGDP.In1978,China’spercapitaGDPwasonlyUS$156.4,muchlowerthanUS$1,651.6ofSouthAfrica,US$527.1ofNigeriaandUS$351.6ofKenya.TheChinesefigurewaslessthanone-thirdoftheaverageofSub-SaharanAfrica(whichstayedatUS$495.4).Butnow,ChinahasovertakenallAfricancountries,withitspercapitaGDPincreasingtoUS$8,827bytheendof2017,whilethefigureisUS$6,160.7inSouthAfrica,US$1,968.6inNigeria,US$1,507.8inKenya,andUS$1,553.8onaverageinSub-SaharanAfrica.
Thischangeverifiedthereporttothe19thNationalCongressoftheCommunistPartyofChina:AssocialismwithChinesecharacteristicshasenteredanewera,Chinaisblazinga“newtrailforotherdevelopingcountriestoachievemodernization”andoffersa“newoptionforothercountriesandnationswhowanttospeeduptheirdevelopmentwhilepreservingtheirindependence.”
ThethirdmajorfactordrivingFOCACisthatAfricaisatoppriorityofChina’sdiplomacyandhasbecomestrategicallyimportantforChina.FromtheperspectiveofChina-Africarelations,China’sdiplomacyhasroughlyundergonethreestagesinwhichAfrica’sroleevolvedintiesbetweenChinaandotherpartsoftheworld.Africaoccupiedacorepositioninthefirststageandisplayingakeyroleinthecurrentthirdstage.ThefirststageextendedfromthefoundingofthePeople’sRepublicofChinain1949untiltheadoptionofthereformandopening-uppolicyinthelate1970s.Duringtheperiod,theColdWarsetthemaintoneoftheworldorder,andChinachosetostandonthesideofthesocialistcampheadedbytheSovietUnion,adoptingadiplomaticpolicyof“cleaningupthehousebeforeinvitingguests”(meaningitneededtoclearouttheremnantsofimperialistforcesinthecountrytopavethewayforbuildingequaldiplomaticrelationswithcountriesaroundtheworld).AfterSino-Sovietrelationssoured,AfricabecamethetoppriorityforChina’sdiplomacy.Thesecondstagestartedfromthelate1970sandlasteduntil2000,duringwhichChinaplacedpriorityonitsrelationswithdevelopedcountries,inabidtoachievea“risethroughimitating”undertheframeworkofinternationalsystem.AsChina’sdevelopmententeredahigherlevel,imitatingdevelopedeconomiescouldnotsolveemergingchallengestorealizesustainabledevelopment.Meanwhile,developedcountriesbecamehighlyskepticalofChina’s“risethroughinnovation”undertheframeworkofinternationalsystem.Inthiscontext,China’sdiplomacyenteredthethirdstage,duringwhichthestrategicimportanceofdevelopingcountriesrebounded.Atthe2018centralconferenceondiplomaticwork,ChinesePresidentXiJinpingstressedthatdevelopingcountriesareChina’snaturalpartnersininternationalaffairsandthatChinashouldtakethemoralhighgroundbyworkingtobenefitandpromotesolidarityandcooperationamongdevelopingcountries.Undoubtedly,AfricaranksfirstamongChina’s“sincerepartnersandreliablefriends.”ItisneedlesstosaythatAfricaandFOCACareofgreatimportancetoChina’sdiplomacy.
ThesethreefactorshavenotonlyguaranteedthesuccessfuloperationofFOCACoverthepast18years,butalsolaidasolidfoundationforitsfuturesustainabledevelopment.AsChina’sdevelopmententersanewera,China-Africacooperationisalsoreachingahigherlevel.ThekeytoChina-AfricacooperationinthisneweraistoseizeonthethreefactorsfuelingFOCAC.WemustearnestlyprovideanewoptionforAfricawhiledeeplyunderstandingAfrica’sstrategicimportancetoChina.
TheAddisAbaba-DjiboutirailwaylinkingEthiopiaandDjiboutiisthefirstmodernelectrifiedrailwayinAfrica.BuiltbyChineseenterprises,itofficiallybeganoperationonJanuary1,2018.bySunRuibo/Xinhua
December10,2014:ChinesedoctorsteachlocalmedicalworkersinfusiontechniquesattheChina-SierraLeoneFriendshipHospitalinFreetown,capitalofSierraLeone.byDaiXin/Xinhua
July24,2018:MaXu,arailwayworkerfromChinaRailwayJinanGroup,instructsaKenyanstudentoninstallingbolts.byZhuZheng/XinhuaTheauthorisdirectorandresearchfellowattheInstituteforForeignPolicyStudiesunderShanghaiInstitutesforInternationalStudies.