A proverb believed to have originated from the African continent says: "If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together." This sentiment embodies the core of China-Africa relations.

The white paper titled China and Africa in the New Era: A Partnership of Equals, released by China's State Council Information Office in 2021, emphasizes that "nothing is more important than a true friend. China has always considered solidarity and cooperation with African countries to be an essential element of its foreign policy. This will never change, not even when China grows stronger and enjoys a higher international status."

From September 4 to 6, Beijing hosted a grand multilateral gathering, where representatives from China and more than 50 African countries met and discussed deepening cooperation and pursuing joint modernization efforts.

A new chapter

The recent event was the fourth summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) since its establishment in 2000, and came six years after the last summit in 2018, which also took place in Beijing.

Themed Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future, the summit covered infrastructure and trade cooperation, green development, global governance, and concessional financing—or financing provided by institutions such as development banks at below-market rates.

In his keynote speech at the summit's opening ceremony on September 5, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China stands ready to work with Africa to implement 10 partnership action plans to jointly advance modernization. 

Earlier, Xi lauded the "stellar example" of China-Africa relations as he and his wife, Peng Liyuan, hosted a welcome banquet at the Great Hall of the People for international guests attending the summit on September 4. 

"We have, together, built roads, railways, schools, hospitals, industrial parks and special economic zones. These projects have changed the lives and destiny of many people," Xi said, noting that the China-Africa community with a shared future thrives on the strength of win-win cooperation.

"We will accomplish new and even greater feats together on the way toward modernization, spearhead the modernization drive of the Global South, and make greater contributions to a community with a shared future for humanity," he added.

The FOCAC was launched by China and African countries to address economic challenges while seeking common development. Since its inception 24 years ago, the partnership platform has grown to have 55 members. It has held four summits—three in Beijing (2006, 2018 and 2024) and one in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2015, as well as a ministerial-level conference every three years. This year, the ministerial and other senior official-level meetings were held on September 2 and 3.

The 2024 FOCAC summit "has achieved complete success," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a press conference on September 5.

The summit adopted the Beijing Declaration on Jointly Building an All-Weather China-Africa Community with a Shared Future for the New Era and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Beijing Action Plan (2025-27).

Bilateral relations between China and all African countries having diplomatic ties with China have been elevated to the level of strategic relations and the overall characterization of China-Africa relations has been elevated to an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era, according to Wang. This means that China and these African nations will work even more closely on long-term goals, weather any storms that may arise together, and adapt to the evolving needs and interests of both sides, he added.

Robust cooperation

China-Africa economic and trade relations have been continuously gaining momentum, with trade volume reaching a record high of $282 billion in 2023, a 1.5-percent increase year on year.

China has been the continent's largest trading partner for the past 15 years and a major source of foreign investment. Chinese companies investing and operating in Africa have created over 1.1 million local jobs in the past three years, Tang Wenhong, China's Assistant Minister of Commerce, said at a press conference in late August.

Areas of investment range from traditional industries, including construction, mining, manufacturing, retail and agriculture, to emerging sectors such as logistics, the digital economy, and clean energy.

With many regions in Africa among the most vulnerable to climate change, green products have become a focal point of trade. In 2023, China's exports to Africa of new-energy vehicles, lithium-ion batteries and solar products saw considerable growth, with year-on-year increases of 291 percent, 109 percent and 57 percent, respectively.

At the 2015 FOCAC summit, China introduced 10 major cooperation plans covering areas such as industrialization, agricultural modernization, infrastructure, financial services, and green development. Xinhua News Agency reported that these plans were fully implemented and were followed by eight major initiatives launched at the 2018 FOCAC summit, and nine additional programs announced during the opening ceremony of the eighth FOCAC ministerial conference in Senegal in 2021.

Since the FOCAC's establishment, Chinese companies have helped African countries build or upgrade more than 10,000 km of railways, nearly 100,000 km of highways, 1,000 bridges, 100 ports and 66,000 km of power transmission and distribution lines. 

In 2018, the Chinese-built 752.7-km standard gauge railway connecting landlocked Ethiopia to Djibouti officially started commercial operations. According to the Global Infrastructure Hub, an initiative created by the Group of 20 to promote and facilitate investment in infrastructure worldwide, the railway is expected to bring considerable advantages for long-haul freight transport, including massively reduced travel times—from seven days to 10 hours.

Since its launch, the railway has transported more than 677,000 passengers and nearly 9.47 million tons of freight, generating about $502 million in transport revenue, according to data from the Ethiopian Government.

Collaboration on infrastructure has continued to flourish this year, marked by projects such as the last unit of six turbines at the Karuma Hydropower Plant in Uganda and the completion of phase one of the Thwake multipurpose dam in Kenya.

"As a developing country, China understands Africa's most pressing needs, which is crucial for effective cooperation," Tang Xiaoyang, Dean of the Department of International Relations at Tsinghua University, told Xinhua.

Many of those attending the 2024 FOCAC summit sought to understand the key factors behind China's development and explore avenues for intensified cooperation between China and Africa.

Samuel Ayammah, a reporter with Ghana Broadcasting Corp., emphasized that the consistency of China's policies is essential and advocated for a similar unified approach in Africa.

"My president spoke highly of the way China does things. It means he learned something in terms of governing and in terms of continuity," he told Beijing Review.

"If Africa can have a policy that is guiding development over the next 20 years, we can aspire to achieve the kind of progress we've seen in China," he added.

(Print Edition Title: Diplomatic Dialogues)

Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon

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