The 2024 Summit of FOCAC: Navigating New Horizons of China-Africa Cooperation

The close bond of friendship between China and Africa is highlighted by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his first historic three-nation African state tour to Tanzania, South Africa and the Republic of Congo in March 2013.

“Africa belongs to the African people,” Xi said, “In developing relations with Africa, all countries should respect Africa’s dignity and independence.”

The Chinese government and people have continued to lend a helping hand to developing countries, least-developed countries, and low-income economies in Africa, providing a large number of concessional low-interest loans and investments for infrastructure development.

The visit of Chinese leaders to Africa as well as African leaders to China has certainly brought more fruit to China-Africa cooperation and South-South cooperation.

Uniting Global South countries

All eyes are now fixed on the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) from September 4 to 6, which draws almost all African leaders to the Chinese capital city of Beijing.

Themed “Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future”, the 2024 Beijing FOCAC Summit is the largest diplomatic event China has hosted in recent years.

Established in October 2000 in Beijing, the premier FOCAC has turned into a significant platform to facilitate African countries and other Global South countries to strengthen economic and trade cooperation with the world’s second-largest economy. Now it shines at a time when the existing global trade order is increasingly coming under strain due to the U.S.-led Western world’s trade protectionism.

In recent years, China-Africa pragmatic cooperation has borne fruit and effectively improved the well-being of African people. Infrastructure is a critical foundation for Africa’s development. Over the years, under the China-Africa Cooperation Forum and the Belt and Road Initiative cooperation, China has strongly supported African countries in the areas of infrastructure and interconnection development and the implementation of sustainable development.

It is hoped that the 2024 FOCAC will provide a golden opportunity for all Global South countries in Africa to brainstorm on how to maximize synergies to advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, in order to enrich their economies and improve the living standards of their people.

China is a real friend of Africa

The 2024 FOCAC Summit is being held at a time when the United States and its Western allies have trumpeted from time to time the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as the so-called “debt trap” for Africa as well as some other developing countries namely Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal with the aim of tarnishing the benefits of BRI and China’s cooperation with developing countries.

Ever since the launch of the BRI in 2013, “the project of the century” has again and again become a hot topic in Western media by blaming the win-win strategy of BRI as the so-called “debt trap” or “China Threat” for some African countries. They see the BRI as a westward push to sell China’s surplus industries, especially infrastructure like cement and steel, to third-world countries.

However, the BRI has garnered widespread support from developing countries for its spirit of openness, inclusiveness and transparency. Today the BRI is a vivid example of building a global community of shared future, and a global public good and cooperation platform. Chinese investments in the infrastructure, agriculture and other sectors in Africa have become a boon to the lives of ordinary Africans that are plain to see.

Mutual respect, equality and joint consultation are important features of FOCAC. Over the past 24 years under the umbrella of the FOCAC, China has become a significant force in Africa’s development. China and Africa have always been good partners on the road to modernization.

The countless China-Africa cooperation projects are sufficient enough to understand China’s beneficial nature in Africa. Over the past 24 years, China has channeled more than $200 billion to support African development and the African Union Agenda 2063, without any political conditions attached to its aid to Africa as it has been done by the United States and its allies. The U.S. should not dramatize China’s financial aid to African countries as pure “money relations” or “debt traps.”

Opening a new era for China-Africa cooperation

The growth in trade between China and Africa is truly impressive. When Africa’s trade with Europe and the United States has stagnated for years, China has been Africa’s biggest trading partner for the past 15 years, with China-Africa trade reaching a record $282.1 billion in 2023.

China had granted zero tariffs on 98 percent of tariff items from 27 least-developed African countries, and signed bilateral investment promotion and protection agreements with 34 African countries, as well as double taxation avoidance agreements with 21 African countries. China’s imports of African goods reached $60.1 billion in the first half of this year, up 14 percent year-on-year. In addition, the African continent has seen a sharp rise in Chinese direct investment. As of the end of 2023, China’s direct investment stock in Africa exceeded $40 billion.

These statistics strongly suggest that African countries are keen to partner with China because they know that a protectionist policy will have negative consequences for Africans in the long run, while fostering collaboration with China can lead to mutual economic growth and sustainable development.

China is a dependable supporter and a reliable partner of African nations and other Third World countries. The FOCAC is the most important symbol of China-Africa solidarity and cooperation. Over the past 24 years, it has become a leading example of international collaboration with Africa and a model for South-South cooperation. It is hoped that the FOCAC Beijing Summit will strengthen cooperation between China and Africa in various fields and bring more benefits to the people of both sides in the new era.

The article reflects the author’s opinions, and not necessarily the views of China Focus.