•Although separated by vast oceans, China and Africa have had close friendship since ancient times.
•As a result of its intense trade with China, Africa registered 14.8 percent economic growth in 2019, its highest level in recent history.
Much has been said about the China-Africa partnership. So far, the main areas have comprised infrastructural development, trade, education and diplomacy. But there is a lot of scope that waits to be covered, if not discovered, that can propel Africa to levels of development reached by her Asian partner.
This was the major point of discussion last week during the 11th meeting of the China-Africa Think Tank Forum held from July 20 to 21. The conference was hosted by the Secretariat of the Chinese Follow-up Committee of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and organised by the China-Africa Institute.
Hosted both online and offline by the China-Africa Institute in Beijing, the conference was co-organised by the African Research Institute of Zhejiang Normal University and the Center for African Studies of Peking University. The theme of the event was "carry forward the spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation, and work together to implement global development initiatives".
The friendship between Chinese and African people has a long history. It can be traced back hundreds of years. During the Ming dynasty, the famous Chinese navigator Zheng voyaged across the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean to the east coast of Africa and built up friendship between China and Africa. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the first generation of Chinese leaders represented by Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai, together with elder statesmen of African Countries, opened a new era of China-Africa partnership.
Both China and Africa were origins of human civilisation, and both have made positive contributions to the advancement and progress of humanity. Although separated by vast oceans, China and Africa have had close friendship since ancient times. In the past 60 years, China and Africa have maintained close political relations through frequent exchanges of high level visits.
The world has changed, and so have China and Africa, but what remains unchanged is the profound friendship with mutual trust and mutual support. As President Xi Jinping once said: “China and Africa are friends tested by adversity. Such friends must never be forgotten.”
Africa is a continent full of hope. Today, as China and Africa forge a comprehensive, strategic and cooperative partnership, and amid challenges and opportunities in the new era, it’s highly practical and meaningful for representatives of various sectors on both sides to exchange ideas and seek cooperation.
Prof Marisela Connelly, a researcher of the Center for Asian and African Studies, El Colegio de Mexico, notes that the world today is fraught with a series of challenges including climate
Image: COURTESY
change, unsustainable energy supplies, poor healthcare systems, water scarcity and agricultural water shortages. The foregoing makes technology an indispensable tool in building the world’s resilience and ensuring the survival and sustainability of future generations. The foregoing predicament has made the bond between China and Africa stronger. Africa needs Chinese technological expertise to successfully address these challenges. On the other hand, the continent is a huge market for its partner’s technology.
Nowhere has China’s emergence been more dramatic than in Africa. Since 2000, China’s economic ties with Africa have increased exponentially. In 2020, the trade volumes between the two are now over $300 billion. At the same time, China received about 30 percent of Africa’s global trade in 2020. Presently; China’s investment in Africa is over $70 billion.
Although only four percent of China’s global investment, this figure is projected to reach 10 percent in 2030. As a result of its intense trade with China, Africa registered 14.8 percent economic growth in 2019, its highest level in recent history. From 2000 to 2020, China has written of debts to African countries of more than $6 billion, more than the Western world’s total African debt forgiveness during the same period.
In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Chinese and African people fought together in solidarity, became more united, and strengthened their friendship and mutual trust. Online media in China and Africa shared experiences in a timely and accurate manner, spread the message of confidence, actively safeguarded multilateralism and the global governance system with the United Nations (UN) at the core.
China and Africa are friends tested by adversity. Such friends must never be forgotten.”President Xi Jinping
China has promised to share its experience on industrialisation with Africa. Since Covid-19 struck, China and Africa have cooperated in research and local production of protective personal equipment, medical equipment and medicines, and training medical professionals. The country we will continue to play its part in the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa (2016-2025) as proclaimed by the UN General Assembly on July 25, 2016.
An African proverb says that “if you want to go fast, go alone; If you want to go far, go together.” Standing at a new historical starting point, the two partners should continue to uphold the principles of equality, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation to bring China-Africa social and economic cooperation to a higher level.
The two sides should also join hands to resolutely safeguard fairness and justice in the international community, actively participate in international cyberspace governance, and contribute to the deepening of cooperation in various fields and the building of a closer China-Africa community with a shared future for mankind.
The writer is the Executive Director of South-South Dialogues, a Nairobi based research and development communication think tank.