Sino-African ties to get boost

FOCAC Summit in September set to bolster cooperation, communications

Leaders of China and countries in Africa will gather in Beijing for the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in September, a key gathering widely expected to enhance solidarity and cooperation between the two sides.

The three-day summit, scheduled to start on Sept 4, will have the theme "Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future", according to the Foreign Ministry.

A series of events will be held, including an opening ceremony, a welcoming banquet, parallel and high-level meetings, a conference of Chinese and African entrepreneurs and bilateral meetings, ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Tuesday.

A senior officials' meeting will be held on Sept 2 and a ministers' meeting on Sept 3 to make preparations for the summit, Lin said, adding that the Chinese and African sides are maintaining close communications and consultations on the preparation work.

The gathering will come six years after the last FOCAC Summit was held in Beijing in 2018. The upcoming summit will "open up new horizons for the development of China-Africa ties", Lin said.

Li Wentao, director of the Institute of African Studies of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said that in a world with increased turmoil, the 2024 FOCAC Summit holds "great significance" in terms of promoting fairness, justice and inclusiveness in the global order.

China and Africa are not only important members of the Global South, but also forces that champion world peace, Li said, adding that he expects both sides to strengthen communications on major international issues, as well as enhance alignment of their development strategies, at the summit.

China, the largest trade partner for Africa for 15 consecutive years, has pushed forward cooperation with the continent in a series of fields under the framework of FOCAC, a forum established in 2000 and covering 53 African countries and the African Union Commission.

Cooperation between China and Africa is rapidly growing in a number of fields, including industrialization, infrastructure, trade and agriculture.

Bilateral trade reached a record high of $282.1 billion in 2023, and China has invested more than any other developing country in Africa, the Ministry of Commerce said, adding that Chinese companies have invested in a number of fields, such as construction materials, automobiles, home appliances and agricultural product processing.

The country has become "one of the most important external impetuses" for Africa's development over the past two decades, Li said.

Lin, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said that "mutual respect, equal treatment and joint consultations are important characteristics "of FOCAC.

Li, the researcher, said that China carries out its cooperation with Africa on the basis of consultations, instead of imposing its own will on African countries.

This is an important reason for the strong traditional friendship and high level of political mutual trust between the two sides, he said.

China and Africa, which are both making vigorous efforts in their modernization drives, will take the upcoming summit as an opportunity to exchange their experience in promoting growth and discuss further cooperation to boost shared development, Li said.