International

Toward an ‘All-Weather’ Partnership

China and Africa are seeking new horizons for cooperation on modernization as leaders convened in Beijing for the highly anticipated China-Africa Cooperation Forum

By Yu Xiaodong Updated Nov.1

On September 4 to 6, the 2024 Summit of the 9th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was held in Beijing. Attended by more than 300 heads of state and government, senior officials and representatives from all 54 African members of FOCAC, China’s Foreign Ministry described it as “the largest diplomatic event” the country has hosted in recent years in terms of attendance of foreign leaders. It is “a grand reunion of the China-Africa family.”　

China is the world’s second-largest economy and the largest developing country with the second-largest population, and Africa has the largest number of developing countries. With a combined population of about 2.8 billion, which accounts for about one-third of humanity, the summit that brought these leaders together was highly anticipated.　

On the last day, China and Africa released a joint declaration on “jointly building an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.” In a keynote speech delivered at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that to jointly advance toward modernization with Africa, China will implement 10 partnership action plans in the next three years, which cover the areas of mutual learning among civilizations, trade prosperity, industrial chain cooperation, connectivity, development cooperation, health, agriculture and livelihood, cultural and people-to-people exchanges, green development and common security.　

Xi said that China will provide 360 billion yuan (US$50.8b) in the next three years to finance the 10 partnership action plans, including establishing a hospital alliance and joint medical centers, creating a China-Africa agricultural science and technology innovation alliance, establishing an engineering technology academy and 10 Luban workshops, which provide vocational training.　

China stands ready to carry out 30 infrastructure connectivity projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), implement 1,000 “small and beautiful” livelihood projects, launch 30 clean energy projects, create a China-Africa forum on the peaceful use of nuclear technology, establish 30 joint laboratories, and collaborate on satellite remote sensing and lunar and deep-space exploration. Other proposed plans include sending 500 agricultural experts and 2,000 medical personnel to Africa, providing 60,000 training opportunities for African people, and creating 1 million jobs.　

Xi also announced that China has decided to voluntarily and unilaterally give all Least Developed Countries that have diplomatic relations with China, including 33 countries in Africa, zero-tariff treatment for all traded goods.

More Countries and Areas

China has long maintained close relationships with African countries since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Building on traditional ties, China and Africa launched FOCAC in 2002 with the participation of 44 African countries. Serving as a flagship platform for China-Africa partnership, FOCAC now involves 53 African countries, all countries in the continent except Eswatini, which has yet to establish diplomatic relations with China. The African Union Commission joined the platform as a full member in 2011.　

FOCAC gathered heads of state or governments from China and over 40 African countries for the first time in 2006. The conference has taken place every three years, alternating between China and Africa in the following years. The meeting this year is the fourth time the forum has been held as a summit.　

In its initial years, the platform mostly focused on promoting trade relations between China and African countries. After the summit in 2006, China started to increase its investment in the continent, developing special economic zones, free trade zones and industrial parks. In 2009, China surpassed the US to become the continent’s largest trade partner and has remained so ever since.　

After President Xi Jinping assumed China’s leadership and launched the iconic BRI in 2013, China strengthened its cooperation with African countries in infrastructure building. As of 2023, 52 African countries as well as the African Union have signed a memorandum of understanding with China to jointly build BRI cooperation.　

In the 2015 FOCAC meeting held in Johannesburg, China and Africa agreed to build a “comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership,” elevating the FOCAC framework to a new and comprehensive level to cover a spectrum of issues including finance, environment, health, trade, security, politics and human development. During the period, multiple sub-categories of the China-Africa cooperation mechanisms were established, including forums for people-to-people exchange, youth leaders’ development, health cooperation, media cooperation, poverty alleviation, legal issues and local government cooperation.　

During the 2018 FOCAC summit held in Beijing, China and Africa further elevated their partnership “toward an even stronger community with a shared future through win-win cooperation.” Hosting 50 heads of state and governments of 50 African countries, President Xi highlighted the importance of political cooperation and called for African countries to seek alternative development paths that suit their national characteristics. In the meantime, China’s infrastructure investment in Africa evolved from the physical to include digital and technology spheres. In the following years, Chinese companies started to help African countries to lay down cable networks, high-speed broadband access and data storage centers.　

According to a press conference by China’s National Development and Reform Commission on August 29, so far Chinese companies had helped African countries build or upgrade more than 10,000 kilometers of railways, nearly 100,000 kilometers of highways, roughly 1,000 bridges, almost 100 ports and 66,000 kilometers of power transmission and distribution lines. Chinese companies also installed electric power capacity of over 120 million kilowatts and laid down more than 150,000 kilometers of communications network cables providing network services to over 700 million users.　

Due to the impact of Covid-19, the 2021 FOCAC meeting held in Senegal was relatively low-profile. Nevertheless, the conference marked a new era for China-Africa cooperation. While China gradually shifted away from megaprojects, mostly funded by State-owned enterprises, to “small and beautiful” projects often undertaken by private companies, China deepened its commitment as Africa’s public-goods provider, promising to supply 1 billion doses of Covid vaccines to the continent with 600 million of them provided as donations. China expanded cooperation with Africa to all spheres of strategic interest, including green development. Since 2021, China has participated in the construction of more than 120 African climate projects including low-carbon demonstration zones, wind farms, hydropower stations and photovoltaic power stations.　

According to China’s Commerce Ministry, since FOCAC was set up in 2002, China-Africa trade volume has increased from US$10.5 billion in 2000 to US$282.1 billion to date. By the end of 2023, the sum of Chinese direct investment in Africa exceeded US$40 billion.

Staff in a control room prepare for the opening of Africa’s ffrst waste-to-energy (WTE) plant in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, August 19, 2018. Named Reppie WTE Plant, the power station is capable of meeting 25 percent of the city’s energy needs (Photo by VCG)

A warehouse for Kilimall, an e-commerce platform founded by Chinese businessman Yang Tao in Kenya in 2014, Mlolongo, Kenya, July 28, 2023 (Photo by Xinhua)

African-style Modernization?

Building on previous developments, a major highlight of the 2024 FOCAC Summit is the emphasis on realizing “joint modernization with African countries.” Wang Yi, Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and China’s foreign minister, highlighted that China and Africa have reached consensus on a concept of modernization “that is just and equitable, that is open and win-win, that puts the people first, that features diversity and inclusiveness, that is ecofriendly, and that is underpinned by peace and security.” And this understanding of modernization “will have a significant and far-reaching impact on spearheading faster modernization of the Global South and advancing global modernization.” He made the remarks at a joint press conference with his Senegal counterpart Yassine Fall and JeanClaude Gakosso from the Republic of the Congo on September 5, 2024.　

According to Professor Tang Xiaoyang, chair of the Department of International Relations at Beijing-based Tsinghua University, the emphasis on “advancing modernization and building a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future” aligns with key issues regarding China-Africa cooperation, as well as cooperation between China and the Global South.　

“China has always believed that modernization is a common goal for developing countries, and naturally, it is also a common goal for China and African countries,” Tang told NewsChina. Tang added that in past decades, the West has tried to impose its neoliberalist view on economic development and the so-called “Washington Consensus” on developing countries. “But these approaches have failed, few developing countries have achieved modernization with these approaches,” Tang said, “By comparison, China has achieved development in modernization through its own development model.”　

“The idea of ‘Chinese modernization’ emphasizes uniqueness and autonomy, and China’s success in advancing modernization can also serve as a reference for other developing countries so they can explore their own way to achieve modernization,” Tang added.　

Tang stressed that closer cooperation between China and Africa should be understood against the backdrop of the rise of the Global South. Pointing out the economic and political influence of the Global South over the past few decades, Tang said that cooperation among Global South countries, including China-Africa cooperation, is no longer marginal, but has become an important component of globalization.　

Tang’s view is echoed by Liu Hongwu, director of the Institute of African Studies at Zhejiang Normal University, who told NewsChina that China-Africa cooperation has helped debunk the myth that modernization is equivalent to Westernization.　

Liu said that in the past, many in Africa believed that it is impossible for Africa to achieve modernization and that their best choice is to serve as “peripheries and markets” for Western countries. “But now China-Africa cooperation injects new confidence into Africans, who now believe that if China can realize its own modernization, African countries can also find a way that suits them to reach modernization,” Liu said.　

According to the African Economic Outlook released by the African Development Bank in May, the continent will retain its 2023 ranking as the second fastest-growing region after Asia in 2024 and 2025, with estimated growth rates reaching 3.7 percent and 4.3 percent.　

However, due to intensifying geopolitical conflicts and the widening gap between the West and the Global South on various issues, China-Africa cooperation faces challenges.

Speaking to the media at a press conference on September 3, Liu Yuxi, special representative of the Chinese government on African affairs, highlighted the complementary nature of China-Africa cooperation, describing China-Africa cooperation as “open, confident and pioneering” and an example of practicing multilateralism, rather than exclusivity.　

Warning that the world is facing surging hegemonism and a renewed Cold War mentality, Liu said that China and Africa will give each other stronger support on issues around their core interests and major concerns, and work side-by-side to safeguard the legitimate interests of developing countries. “History will not go back to the old days of colonialism and Cold War confrontation. Africa should not become a wrestling ground for major countries,” Liu added.

Chinese visitors view a statue of Senusret I (1920-1875 BCE), the second pharaoh of Egypt’s 12th Dynasty, Shanghai Museum, July 19, 2024. The exhibition titled “On Top of the Pyramid, the Civilization of Ancient Egypt” includes 788 Egyptian artifacts on display until July 19, 2025 (Photo by VCG)

Favorable Perception

With ever-closer cooperation between China and Africa, the perception of China among ordinary Africans is also becoming more favorable. According to a survey conducted by the South Africabased Ichikowitz Family Foundation, which released its results on September 3, 82 percent of young Africans considers China’s influence on the continent as positive, 4 percent higher than a similar survey conducted four years ago by the foundation. The survey, of 5,604 people between 18 and 24 years old across 16 African nations in January and February, also found that the affordability of Chinese products and Chinese investments in infrastructure development are the key drivers of China’s favorable perception.　

A separate poll conducted in 2023 by the US polling firm Gallup showed similar results. According to the poll result released in April by Gallup, 58 percent of surveyed African respondents deemed China influential on the continent, up from 52 percent in 2022. In the meantime, the percentage of those who deemed the US as an influential power in Africa dropped from 59 percent in 2022 to 56 percent in 2023.　

However, according to Gou Haodong, Senior Fellow of the Center for China and Globalization (CCG), and former Deputy Representative of the Chinese Mission to the African Union, despite a more positive perception of China among Africans, there is a huge gap in people-to-people exchanges and public diplomacy between China and Africa, especially compared to the high cooperation in trade and economics.　

“Frankly speaking, the Chinese public lack adequate understanding of Africa, and for many young people in Africa, the image of China still remains in the era of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan movies,” Gou said. During the 2024 summit, China and Africa agreed to designate 2026 as the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges. “There is much room for improvement in this regard,” Gou noted.

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Toward an ‘All-Weather’ Partnership